From Past to Future
by Green Monkie
Summary: 4 years ago, the Xmen were attacked. Now, they are still recovering, but no matter how hard they try, they'll never fully recover, as tension between humans and mutants grows. Plot-centric fic, includes some character death.
1. Chapter 1

**_We feel free when we escape - even if it be but from the frying pan to the fire. _**

**_-Eric Hoffer_**

_***_

_We've got to get out of here, _was the only thing running through her mind as she frantically searched for an exit. Her red headed companion seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she was running her hands over the walls, looking for a door, or a crack. Something they could use to escape.

   She realised that light was coming in from above them so she looked up. High above her head was a glass window. "Jean!" She yelled to her companion, "The window."

   The red headed Jean turned and looked where she was pointing. It was night time, and only a faint glimmer of moonlight was slipping through the window. 

   As Jean was much taller than her, she could easily reach the window with her arms out stretched. "I'll boost you up, and then you have to help me get out as well." She said in a hurry. The shorter brunette nodded and ran over. Jean had her hands placed in front of her as a step. The girl gingerly used the foot as a boost and grabbed the windowsill. She hoisted herself up, mentally thanking Logan for all of those harsh aerobic workouts. Even though they were so long ago.

   Luckily the window was open, so she balanced herself while she helped Jean up. She looked down to their escape, it was a fair drop. A good three metres, into what looked like a back alley. Dumpsters and trashcans lined the sides, while another building rose up on the other side.

   They'd have to be careful when they jumped, or they might injure themselves. Jean could get up herself now, and the brunette realised she was in the way. She took a deep breath and jumped, remembering to bend her knees when she landed as to avoid any injuries.

   She landed on her feet luckily, but almost fell over as soon as she hit the ground. Her back ached from that jump, as she had jarred her back on her landing. Jean was doing the same thing she had just done. She jumped, and landed awkwardly on her ankle. 

   She let out a soft moan. "Shit, Kitty, don't wait for me,"

   Kitty ignored that statement however and helped her up. Jean stood gingerly on her foot and winced.

   "How bad?" Kitty asked quickly, glancing around. People were going to start pouring into this alley any minute now.

   "I think I just sprained it," Jean assessed testing it again. 

   "Well you better be a quick healer, cos we have to run now," Kitty grabbed Jean's arm and draped it over her shoulder. They hobbled off down the alley.

   It wasn't long until they reached a street, it wasn't a busy one, but it was all they needed. Kitty flagged down a Taxi, which stopped in front of them. She helped Jean into the car, and jumped in after her slamming the door behind herself.

   "Drive," She ordered the driver, who nodded complacently, before pulling off the curb. 

   Jean looked worse for wear. Her clothes were the identical grey uniform that Kitty herself was wearing. And she also had the same identical collar fixed around her neck.

   Kitty glanced down at her friend's ankle. It was very swollen, if it wasn't for the very worn out sneakers that she wore, she probably would have snapped her foot.

   "We need to get you to a doctor." Kitty said quietly.

   "No," Jean said urgently. "We have to find everyone else. I'll heal fine, I can do first aid."

   "But your ankle…"

   "Finding the others is more important. And getting these things off." Jean pulled at her collar, as though trying to pull it off. It didn't work, she needed tools, or a really big saw to get something like that off.

   "Where to?" The Taxi Driver said kindly.

   "Can you take us to a hardware store please?" Kitty told the driver.

   "There ain't none open at this time of night girly. It's 2:00 in the morning."

   "Well then take us to the nearest one. We can wait, unless you have a screwdriver in somewhere."

   "What do you need with a screwdriver?" He glanced in the rear-view mirror. Upon seeing the collar around her neck, he nodded. "Yeah I got one, so I can change the tire."

   "Can we get it out?" She asked him quickly. Jean was steadily turning a death white colour.

   "Yeah sure, it's under the passenger seat." Kitty nodded and felt around under the seat. When her hand grasped the smooth cold metal of the screwdriver, she let out a great sigh of relief. 

   She told Jean to hold still while she began to unscrew the several rivets holding the collar on her friend's neck. She only had to remove two before the collar fell away. 

   Jean managed to concentrate enough to remove the collar from Kitty's own neck. As soon as it was fully off Kitty rubbed her neck, to get rid of the feeling of constriction. 

   The Taxi driver had now pulled over, as he had no where to go, and he doubted that his passengers would be able to pay him. They looked like they had been through hell. Both were injured, though one wasn't half as bad as the other. They looked like escapees from a prison. They had the uniforms. Though they weren't the ones that regular inmates wore. Plus they had been wearing funny collars.

   "Now, where do you want to go?" He asked them for the second time that night. This time the brunette didn't answer. She seemed lost. Like she had no idea where she was, or when it was, or who she was.

  The redhead who was looking quite faint, mumbled something under her breath, and opened her door. "We need to get out of here as quickly as possible," She said to the brunette, as she pulled herself out the door. Kitty nodded and scooted over the seat and out the door Jean had open. She didn't say anything to the driver. Not even a "Thanks," for lending her the screwdriver.

   The taxi driver sighed and watched as the two girls hobbled across the street and into an alleyway. He didn't bother asking about the fare. It was obvious that these girls couldn't pay.

   Jean and Kitty hobbled as fast as they could across the street and into the alley. Jean was looking paler by the minute, and her foot was beginning to resemble a small watermelon. As soon as they were well away from the street, Kitty helped Jean to sit down next to a dumpster.

   "Wait here, if anybody, or thing comes, send me a telepathic message, and I'll be here to help ok?" Kitty told Jean as she looked up and down the alleyway.

   Jean nodded weakly, and Kitty ran through the external wall of a large apartment block, hoping to find some money, or food, or clothes in one of it's many rooms.

   She was lucky. The first room she entered was a jackpot. It was probably owned by the landlord, as their apartment looked fairly well off. The food cupboard was full, and the fridge was stocked to the bream.

   She found her way into the bedroom where there was a whole cupboard full of clothes. She quickly changed out of the uniform she was wearing and into a comfortable shirt and sweater, and jeans. She grabbed some clothes for Jean and ran back into the kitchen.

   She found a plastic bag in one of the cupboards underneath the sink and filled it with food. She was just grabbing a packet of instant noodles, when she noticed a jar at the back which had in it several bank notes and coins.

   She didn't even think, she just grabbed the jar and placed it in the bag along with the noodles. 

   As soon as the bag was full, she looked quickly about the room, nervously checking to make sure no body was there. She didn't spend too long doing that though, and quickly ran back out into the alley where Jean was still leaning against the wall.

   She was looking extremely exhausted now. Kitty was pretty sure that her friend's foot wasn't sprained, but much much worse. People didn't turn that colour if they only sprained something.

   Jean sat up a bit straighter when she heard Kitty phase back. She smiled weakly.

   "I got food, clothes and a bit of money," Kitty announced holding up the bag. Jean nodded.

   "We need to find them, if they're still alive." Jean said calmly, the pain not showing in her voice.

   "They're alive. I know Rogue got out, and Logan too. Kurt probably did." Kitty said softly, opening up a packet of dried fruit, she handed some to Jean.

   Jean grabbed a handful of fruit and popped some in her mouth. "I can try contacting people, when I feel a bit better."

   "We really should get you to a doctor," Kitty said softly, eyeing her friend's foot. "I don't think that a sprained ankle would swell that much."

   "I know," Jean said softly, "It hurts something horrid. But don't you understand we can't, I don't want to go back there." Fear cloaked her voice, and one glance at her friend's eyes was enough to drop the topic.

   "Neither do I, but we need to get you medical attention. Maybe if we go and see a local doctor, and not go to a hospital." Kitty suggested. "And then you can brainwash them after we've gone, telling them that we were never there."

   "I hate doing that to people." Jean said softly.

   "I hate stealing clothes and food and money from people, but I'm still doing it to survive Jean," Kitty burst out angrily. "Think of what those people did to us. Think of Evan and Hank, what happened to them. Do you think that they cared that we were people too? No. They didn't, this time, we have to go against our morals a little."

   Jean nodded meekly, "Ok, I will, but we can't go yet, the sun isn't even up." She looked up at the starry (yet half obscured) sky.

   "That taxi driver said it was 2:00. So we have another 7 hours or so, before the first clinic opens." Kitty calculated aloud. "You go to sleep, I'll keep a watch out, and I'll wake you if anything comes."

   Jean nodded, and tried to get comfortable. Eventually she did fall asleep, but her sleep was riddled with Nightmares, and horrible dreams of the facility that they had just escaped.

***


	2. Chapter 2

**_Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day. _**

**_Thomas Jefferson_**

***

Kitty stayed awake the rest of the night by listening to the cars on the nearby street go past. There weren't many, but when they did go past they were loud. 

   She also counted the money she grabbed from the cupboard. There was over $300 in that jar. Someone was obviously saving for something. Kitty had to swallow back her guilt, as she pocketed the money and tossed the jar into a nearby dumpster. She also organised all the food she had in the bag. All the while careful enough not to wake Jean. Though she really didn't have to worry, as Jean was in such a deep sleep that she doubted that even a foghorn right next to her ear would wake her.

   The sun was just beginning to turn the sky a lighter shade of Grey when Jean woke up. She groggily blinked her eyes for a few seconds, before fully realising where she was. "What time do you think it is?" She muttered, rubbing her eyes.

   "6:00 maybe? We should start looking for a Clinic." Kitty told her, standing up and stretching her legs. She then helped Jean stand up. Her foot didn't look much better than last night.

   As soon as Jean was standing, she pulled a jacket over her grey uniform, and Kitty helped her pull on the track pants. They were a tightish fit, as they were pulled on over the other pants Jean was wearing, but she didn't complain. Kitty surmised that Jean was either too tired, or in too much pain to complain at all. In fact it was probably a mix of both. About 10 minutes after Jean woke up, the emerged from the alleyway. Kitty supporting Jean with one arm, and carrying the bag of food with her other hand.

   The walked, or hobbled down the street about 3 blocks, until they came across a diner. It wasn't the greatest, and cleanest place Kitty had ever seen, but it was the sort of place they were looking for. A little bell went off as they closed the door.

   An oldish lady, who was wiping down the counter looked up when they entered. She smiled faintly at them, before throwing her cloth in the sink behind her.

   "Hello sweeties, what can I do for ya today?" She said, grinning a toothless smile at the two girls. Kitty helped Jean to sit down before sitting down herself.

   "An orange juice for both of us please." Kitty said politely. The lady grabbed two glasses and poured the orange liquid into them. She then placed them in front of the two girls.

   "A bit early for two young girlies to be out in this part of the City."

   "Yeah well, my friend here hurt her leg real bad last night." Kitty explained to the old lady. She nodded.

   "Why didn't ya go to the hospital? There's one just down the road." She asked concern creeping across her face.

   "Jean is terrified of hospitals." Kitty said, "We were going to look for a local doctor. Do you know a good one near here?"

   "Yeah there's Dr Harris, his clinic is around the corner. He'd probably be open in an hour or so. Been having trouble with the missus lately he has. Going to work early to escape her yelling," the old lady behind the counter winked. Kitty smiled faintly.

   The lady glanced up at the clock on the wall, it read 7:02. "Oh! The news is on," She said, and grabbed a broom handle which she used to switch on the TV above their heads.

   "Mutant activity has been rising steadily over the past few days says Senator McPherson, a Presidential candidate who is for the Mutant Registration Bill that the senate are going to vote on at the end of this week, told the public in a press conference last night that the Mutant Registration Bill is for the good of the country, and it provides the means to monitor all mutant activity.  However around the country Protests with over 200 000 people have taken place, against the Bill." A Blond haired woman popped up on the screen. "What if one of your children was a mutant? Would you stand by and watch them be monitored for their whole lives over something they have absolutely no control over?" A cheer went up over the crowd she was preaching to, she paused then continued. 

   "Then why do this country's politicians and leaders persecute people over something they can't control. Doesn't our own Bill of rights say that everyman is equal and shouldn't be judged unfairly? Then why are should we stand back, while our own brothers and sisters. Our friends and Colleagues, Our Fathers and Mothers and Sons and Daughters are forced to suffer this cruel fate?" The screen flicked back to the newsreader, who began talking about the results of last night's Basketball Game.

   "Who was the lady?" Jean asked softly, after finishing her juice.

   "Don't ya know her? That's Marie Denver; she's been organising rallies all over the country against the Mutant Registration Bill. She's worked up quite a following. Rumours going around that she's actually a mutant herself. Ya must've been living under a rock not to know about her. She's been talk of the town for weeks now."

   "We've been backpacking in New Zealand for a year." Kitty lied quickly.  The lady frowned.

  "Ya look real young to have been back packing." The lady looked pointedly at Kitty.

   "I'm actually 19, and Jean is 21, we went straight after I graduated." Kitty lied again. She didn't know exactly how old she was anymore.

   The lady didn't say anything else to that, just looked back up at the Television which was beginning to show the weather.

   Kitty looked up at the clock on the wall, 7:38. She sighed and began to stand up.

   She asked for directions to Dr Harris's clinic, which the lady kindly gave them, and they went on their way. It didn't take them long to walk to the Doctor's. It really was only about two blocks away but it wasn't open when they got there, so Kitty helped Jean sit down on the stairs outside.

   Kitty herself stayed standing, but leant against the wall and closed her eyes in an attempt to save off the drowsiness. It didn't work very well, and she caught herself drifting off several times.

   "You can go to sleep if you want to, I can keep watch." Jean said, snapping Kitty out of her semi-conscious stupor.

   Kitty shook her head, and stood up straighter. "No, I'll be fine,"

   She looked at Jean, who was looking at her anxiously. "Really, I'm just a little tired. I'll be fine."

   "If you say so,"

   A car whizzing by at a speed that definitely not legal, distracted her. It was then that she realised the Doctor's Surgery was situated on a fairly busy road, and they were in plain sight. 

   In a quick panic she quickly scanned the area. There was a man walking his dog across the street and a woman with a pram walking slightly behind him. In the apartment building down the street, one window had its curtains open, and a half dressed man walked by it, brushing his teeth.

   The traffic wasn't that thick, only a few cars every now and then. But there was enough to start getting worried.

   "Jean," Kitty said quietly to her friend who was using her telekinesis to manipulate a coke can so it looked like a man, and made it dance around the ground.

   "Hmm?" Jean answered not taking her mind off the dancing can, which was now doing the Macarena.

   "Can you scan the area? I'm worried."

   Suddenly the little Can-Man fell to the ground unceremoniously, and Jean's head tilted up, her eyes still closed.

   "There is a guy thinking about how Pet food is getting expensive; A woman thinking about her how to tell her husband she wants a divorce and…" Jean trailed off, a frown on her face.

   "What?" Kitty panicked, "Who else is there?"

   "I dunno they're hard to read, it's… weird."

   "Dig deeper,"

   "I am," Her frown increased with concentration, until her hand flew to her head, her eyes opened and she looked at Kitty. "She kicked me out!"

   "Kicked you out? You mean she's a telepath?"

   Jean shook her head. "No, but… god that hurt!"

   A Black Mercedes pulled up in front of the Surgery and a vaguely Blond woman stepped out of the car.

   "Ok, who's the telepa—" she began before looking at Jean properly. She frowned "Jean?"

   It was then that Kitty recognised the woman; it was Marie Denver from the Television.

   "Have we met?" Kitty asked nervously, drawing her attention away from Jean and onto her. "I know you from TV and all, but I don't think we've ever seen each other before."

   All of a sudden Marie brought her into a huge warm hug. Kitty stiffened, and waited for her to pull away.

   When she did, Kitty just looked at her warily. Jean was looking on closely, her hand still held to her head.

   "I've hoped so long for this moment, so have Logan, and Kurt, and everyone else. Oh, I'm so stupid you won't even recognise me!"

   She bowed her head, and all of a sudden a bright light engulfed her body. A few seconds later, the light disappeared, and standing where Marie Denver was standing before, was Rogue.

   She had grown. Now she was the same height as Jean, who before was always a head taller. And she had let her hair grow out. She held a sense of something around her. A sense of Power, however her green eyes, were still the same as Kitty remembered. She was still wearing gloves, which Kitty noticed vaguely. But the biggest shock was that she without her gothic makeup, she was barely recognisable.

   Kitty took a few steps back. "Rogue?"

   "Ah got better at controlling my powers …took some of Mystique. Need Ah say more?" Rogue said in her old Southern accent, while she shrugged her shoulders, her, now long double tinted hair bouncing up and down with every move her head made.

   "Why are you here anyway?" she asked eventually, actually realising that they were outside a Doctor's surgery.

   Jean nodded at her foot, which was still rather swollen, and was now turning some very strange and interesting colours.

   Rogue winced. "That'll need a cast. Come with me, and we can do something about that. And we can talk, and catch up on things." With that she popped out a small mobile phone. She pressed a few buttons and began talking into it.

   "—Yeah Nightcrawler? Ah've got some people that you'll be real happy to see… yep… Get Logan and everyone else together to meet me when Ah get there… Ah know they won't like being woken up, but this is one thing they'll be real happy about... Yeah, see ya soon" She clicked the phone off.

   "We've been looking for ya'll for a good 4 years."

   "Has it really been four years?" Jean asked shocked.

   "The longest four years of my life. Things have changed a lot since you went missing. Ah'll tell you all about it when we get back to base." Rogue smiled. She did the same trick that she did before, and her whole body turned bright white. A few seconds later she was Marie Denver again, wearing her beige business suit. 

   Rogue opened the door of the Mercedes and guided Jean in. Kitty got in next, and Rogue after her.

   The car ride to the 'Base' wasn't long; only a few minutes. The whole time, Kitty spent her time, trying to stay awake. Rogue, still in her Marie form, had a huge smile plastered on her face.

   When they got there, Rogue hopped out first, and told them to wait inside. She closed the door after herself, and Kitty and Jean waited patiently.

   The door opened, and Marie's face appeared, "Ok you can come out now." She said smiling. Kitty did as she said getting out of the car. Rogue helped Jean out of the Car as what Kitty saw in front of her, had her stunned. Because, there standing in front of her, was everybody. Kurt, Logan, Lance, Todd, and a few other people she didn't recognise.

   Kurt and Lance both yelled out her name at the same time, and ran at her, enveloping her in a huge hug. Everyone else just stood back and watched on smiling. Even Logan, who she never knew to be a loud and outgoing person, let out a large 'Whoop!' and grabbed her in a large hug.

   Jean looked just as happy to see everyone else as they were to see her.

   When everyone settled down, Rogue stepped in and said, "Ok guys, they both need medical attention and probably a lot of rest, so let's let them go." She said smiling. Everyone reluctantly backed off the two newcomers, and one of the people that Kitty didn't recognise stepped forward. He was tall. Very tall, 7 feet at least. He was dark and Asian, but his hair was black, but had a blue tinge to it.

   "This is Chase, he's our resident doctor here. He'll fix your leg Jean, and help you get good nights sleep."  He nodded and smiled. He then walked over to Jean and asked.

   "I don't want you to stress your leg anymore than it already is, so will you allow me to pick you up?" Jean looked slightly shocked, but nodded. He smiled and lifted Jean up with ease, and nodded at Kitty to follow him. She complied, and followed him inside the big modern building.

***

_Disclaimer: (oops, forgot to do one last chapter …⌐.⌐… heh heh heh… nobody is to snitch on me… ok?) Any characters you recognise from the Television show X Men Evolution probably do belong to the makers of the Cartoon. Not exactly sure who owns it though? (Little help?) Warner Brother's maybe? Or Marvel… hell, it might even belong to Cartoon Network, but I find that highly doubtful, since they haven't even bought the rites to Series 3 in __Australia__… grrr… And I'll leave my bitching to the Authors notes. Yeah, but the little dancing coke can is mine… MINE!  Well not really. It's from a movie I like. (Lets see who can guess what movie it's from… tehehehe)_

_A/N: Ok… here the bitching will begin… Actually I can't be bothered to bitch anymore. So I'm just going to say a big THANKYOU!!! To the 10 people that reviewed. I honestly didn't expect that many reviews, I thought it was a bit average, but apparently other people think otherwise. Strange…_

_Another Note: I know I said that there will be Romy in the story, and don't get me wrong there will be. It's just that it doesn't come in for a while… like at this stage 7 chapters, and even then, it isn't the main focus of the story. The plot does NOT revolve around the Issues Rogue has with her powers; I think that storyline has been a tad overused. This is why I decided to make a story that wasn't Rogue/Remy centric, even though they are my favourite characters. I'd like to think that *if* people do like my story, they like it for the actual *story* and not because of a particular character pairing._

_Yeah, that's it, and I suppose half of you didn't even take a second glance at that little rambling of mine, and you're probably saner for that. Good for you._

_Now review in the little pull down bar down there *points to the review box thingy*… pretty please??? Constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms, even flames are. They keep me warm in my oh so cold bedroom._


	3. Chapter 3

**_The past cannot be cured. _**

**_Elizabeth I_**

***

Kitty didn't open her eyes as soon as she woke, instead indulging in the memory that she was no longer in that horrible lab. Hoping that it wasn't just a dream. Slowly she opened one eye at a time. It took a while for her to fully focus on her surroundings, but when she did she was truly happy to see Kurt sitting next to her bed.

"Hello stranger," she muttered softly, trying to sit up. He smiled and propped a pillow behind her back.

"Hello yourself." He replied.

"You've lost your accent." She said still softly.

"I've lost a lot of things." He said in the same soft voice, "But at least I got one of those things back… Well two…" 

Kitty smiled and took in the rest of her surroundings. It was a small private room. Nothing really in it, except her bed, a desk, and the chair that Kurt was sitting on. "How long have I been asleep for?" She asked finally.

"A little less than two days. You'd physically exhausted yourself, and pretty much collapsed as Chase was about to examine you." He explained, rubbing his blue chin. "You have no idea how happy everyone is to see you here. We've been looking for you for 4 years."

"Four years," Kitty breathed out softly, as if she was testing the idea. "It never seemed like that long."

"It is. You've changed so much Kitty, you look so old." Kurt said sadly. 

Kitty sighed, "I feel old…" She closed her eyes again, hoping to get rid of the overwhelming exhaustion. It didn't leave her, but she opened her eyes and ignored it. "How is Jean?"

"She's fine. She woke up yesterday, and has been hobbling round the complex for a while now."

"Complex? Where exactly are we?" 

"Officially? This is the Residence of 'Millionaire' Marie Denver, but unofficially, this is our safe house. And our headquarters, for the biggest Mutant rebel organization in the whole of the United States."

"You've been working hard at this I see. Didn't waste any time."

"Yeah well, it was mainly Rogue and Logan, they're the leaders around here. After that night, the four of us that got out, Me, Rogue, Ororo and Logan and most of the new recruits, went to stay at the Brotherhood house for a while. Logan wasn't too happy about that, but we had no choice, because after they raided the house, they blew it up. Even the underground bits. We spent days trying to find where they'd taken you, but we couldn't find anything. When we found the body of the Professor. Rogue had a breakdown. A massive one, it made her lose control of her powers temporarily. Since then she's been able to use the powers of people she's absorbed, even if she hasn't absorbed them in a while. But I think she already told you that.

"She's never really been the same since, she went full force into starting up this organization. Because at the time, there was a lot of Anti Mutant terrorism going on. Somehow she managed to build this place. It's bigger than the mansion, and it has heaps more underground than it used too."

Kitty just listened to Kurt's story. Then when she thought he had finished she asked, "What about you?"

"What about me?" He looked her straight in the eye. His yellow eyes boring into her own brown ones.

"Why did you change?"

He stayed silent for a while, then said in the coldest voice she'd ever heard coming from his blue furry face. "Because about a month after the Mansion was attacked, they attacked the Brotherhood house. And I watched them kill my mother in cold blood, and I didn't even do anything to stop them."

Before she could respond, the door opened and Lance walked in. He smiled slightly at her. "You're awake," Kitty nodded and smiled. He turned to Kurt, "We have a briefing in the meeting room in 5. Kitty can come too, Jean is going to be there."

"Ok, thanks Lance." Kurt said softly. Lance nodded and walked back out. Kitty pulled back the covers to see that she was only wearing a long hospital gown. Kurt teleported out and back with some of Rogue's old clothes which she quickly changed into. 

When she was ready, they began slowly walking to the meeting room. 

***

The meeting room was very similar to the old dining room at the Mansion. A long oval table was in the middle of the room. People she knew and many that she didn't know were all seated at various places along the sides. At one end Rogue sat in the head chair, Logan sitting next to her, looking bored as usual. She spotted Lance and Todd next to each other, not far from the centre. Kurt sat down next to Logan and Kitty sat in the only other available seat, next to Jean and someone she hadn't met before.

Rogue smiled and began talking, "Glad we're all here. Nice to see you're awake Kitty." She said in her old southern voice. She started introducing Jean and Kitty to all the people they didn't know.

"These two yeh might know, we fought 'em once." She pointed to two men. One with red hair who was the other person sitting next to Kitty, and the other with shoulder length brown hair, and red eyes.

"Remy Lebeau, and St. John Allerdyce, also known as Gambit and Pyro. They used to be members of Magneto's Acolytes, but he's been missing for a while, and they've sided with us. Gambit can charge objects with a very reactive Kinetic energy, and Pyro is pyrokinetic… He can control fire." Remy smiled charmingly at the two new girls. Pyro however turned and held out his hand to Kitty

"Hey Kitty, Nice to meet you." His voice had a very distinctive Australian accent.

"You from Australia?" Kitty asked quietly.

"Yep, born in Sydney and raised in the fine city of Brisbane, Down Under." He smiled and winked at Kitty in a friendly way.

Next Rogue gestured to a blond haired man who was sitting at the other end of the table on a stool. Massive wings curled into his back. "You might remember Warren Worthington, or Angel. He was around when you were still with us." Kitty vaguely remembered Rogue and Scott telling her a story about Angel, who had saved Rogue one Christmas.

"And you've already met Chase. He can heal people, and is abnormally strong." The tall doctor nodded at them politely. 

"Nice to meet you all," Kitty said smiling. 

"Do you mind if we ask you both some questions about the past 4 years?" Rogue asked gently.

Kitty gave off an involuntary shudder, and Jean beside her let out a long harsh breath, "If you can't answer, we'll understand." Rogue said soothingly to her two friends.

"No it's ok." Jean said finally. Kitty nodding softly in agreement.

"Firstly, what happened the night you were captured?" Rogue said softly.

"I can't remember how they took us, I think it was some sort of drug, because I remember waking up in the back of a van, with Kitty, Evan and Mr McCoy. We rode in there for a while, then they opened the doors, and escorted Kitty and me into this holding cell sort of thing. We stayed there for a while, a few days at least, there was no window, so we couldn't see if it was day or night. Then they came for us." Jean paused for a little, then continued. "They took Kitty first. Probably because she looked smaller and younger. I can remember when she came back. I didn't even recognise her anymore. Then they took me, and left Kitty by herself to heal. They beat me and tortured me. Then they asked all these really strange questions about Professor Xavier. None of them made any sense, so I couldn't answer. That made them angry and they beat me more."

Jean paused again. Kitty took over. "They brought us back, and after another block of a few days or so, they moved us into the holding area. There were other Mutants there. We saw Evan and Mr McCoy there. They'd been through the same thing.

"It went on like that for a few months, I think, They'd beat us, do tests on us, torture us. Then leave us alone to heal. Then a few days ago, when we were in the holding cell again, this man who we'd never seen before came into the holding area. He took Evan away first. And then about an hour later, they brought back his body. They just dumped it in the middle of the room. And left it there. Then, they took some of the other people in there. This other girl around my age, well at least I think she was my age. They dumped her body on top of Evan's. Then they took Hank and the same thing happened with his body an hour later. They just did that until Jean and I were taken together. They put us in this room, told us to prey or 'whatever it was that us mutants did.' They left us alone and that's when we escaped. There was a window that we could reach, so we managed to get through it and jump out. That's when Jean busted her foot." Somehow Kitty had managed to keep talking even though there were tears streaming down her face in a steady flow.

Rogue offered her a box of tissues, which she graciously grabbed. "How did they stop you from using your powers?" Rose spoke up for the first time.

"When we woke up in the van we were wearing these collars. No one could use their powers while they were on." Jean explained quietly. "If you did, you sorta got this massive shock, and it gave you a massive headache for a few hours."

"Ok then, that's all we needed to know. Now you can ask us anything you want to know."

Jean asked first. "Where is Scott?"

Rogue visually tensed up, "We don't know. He went missing the night that you were taken; we had always thought that he was taken to wherever you were taken."

Kitty shook her head, "No, we never saw him at all, and I don't think Evan or Hank saw them." She paused silently before she asked the next question

"Why are you Marie Denver?"

"Have you heard about the Mutant Registration Act?" Rogue asked. Jean and Kitty didn't respond. "Well, basically it's a bill that congress is trying to pass that will mean that every single Mutant in America will be put on this list. And it'll mean that on our driver's license or ID it'll say if you are a mutant or not. As you can imagine that will cause much havoc. People will be ostracised and scapegoated all over America. "No Mutant" signs will be erected everywhere. Essentially what will happen is similar to what happened in Nazi Germany. Fanatical Non-Mutant groups will gain popularity and eventually we will be in the middle of a second Holocaust.

"So I have started making appearances as Marie Denver, a normal Human who is strongly opposed to this act. So far, we've managed to create a strong opposition to Senator McPherson. We've had several other Senators call us, and tell us what they are going to vote. Most of them have been good."

"You said Magneto was missing? Any idea where he is?" Jean asked.

This time it was Remy who spoke up. "I believe dat I can answer dat chère." His voice had a thick French accent. "After de mansion was blown up, he went lookin' for his ol' amis. We tink dat he went a bit crazy when he found out dat Xavier was dead. Haven't seen de ol' guy since."

"Though they had different views on the world, Mags and Xavier were actually real good mates. Like Brothers really. Me and Gambit think that he went into a recluse and eventually carked it after a few months." Pyro explained. "That little speedy runt, what was his name again? Oh yeah Pietro. He followed his dad, and he never came back either. Gift from up above that was… I mean, Mags was a nice bloke and all, but god he had a temper. And speedy runt? I wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire"

"What happened to everyone else? Ororo? All the New Recruits? Bobby, Amara, Jamie and Everyone else?" Kitty asked.

"Most of them are here actually. Working for us. Amara is actually our operative in Senator McPherson's office at the moment. Roberto and Ray were killed when the Mansion blew up. Rahne's parents took her home after the accident but we still keep in contact with her. But everyone else has been with us for a while. Jubilee Jamie and Bobby are finishing their schooling, but still train with us." 

"And Ororo?" Kitty urged. Everyone was silent for a while, then Logan spoke up sadly.

"She died about a year ago. Killed in battle"

Kitty and Jean struggled to say anything to Logan's comment. However Todd broke the silence.

"Yo, we should show 'em the New Danger Room. They'd like that."

Kitty and Jean looked at Todd surprised. He had a grin that spread from ear to ear.

Rogue nodded. "Yes, it's about time we finish up with this meeting. I have to get to Boston by 3:00. You think you could show them everything Todd?"

He nodded and stood up. St John also stood and said, "I'll help the frog boy. Got nothing better to do."

With that, everybody stood up and left the room. Jean hobbling along on Crutches, her foot bandaged up.

"I thought Chase could heal…" Kitty said confused.

"He did, but there was some more muscle damage, that I got from using it while it was broken. He said it was a bit too complicated for him to fix. The bone is all healed up though, and I only have to spend about a week on these things.

"Yo we're all real happy you two are here," Todd said walking in front of Jean and Kitty.

"We're real happy to BE here Toad…" Kitty said smiling.

"You have no idea how much nicer the atmosphere is around here now." St John added. "You two have made the whole place so much brighter. And Rogue is much more relaxed now."

"She was relaxed?" Jean asked incredulously, following Todd into an elevator at the end of the hall. Kitty and St. John followed her inside, while Todd pressed the button reading 'sub floor 2.'

Todd nodded, "Yeah, she's been pretty uptight for a few years now. Ever since that night, she stopped the Gothic thing. She had a breakdown, then she just stopped one day, when we were out searching. It was like she couldn't be bothered anymore. She ran the whole way back to the Brotherhood house, and locked herself in her room. She stopped eating and lost heaps of weight then she got really sick. Plus her powers were being really wack.

"Then one day, Logan just got so pissed off at the fact that she just gave upthat he sliced open her door, and gave her a real mouthful. She came out of her room that night, and ate dinner with us. Ever since then, her and Logan have been real close. They never go anywhere without each other."

"Are they… you know?" Kitty asked as the elevator reached 'sub floor 2'

"An item?" St. John asked, "Hell no, Rogue has the hots for Remy, and visa versa. No… Logan is more of a best mate to her."

Kitty nodded and Jean smiled. 

"Here we are…The new and improved Danger Room… Especially designed by Logan." Toad announced and pressed a button next to a door that automatically opened.

In front of him was a massive space. Bigger than the last danger room. Its walls were still metallic, though they weren't panelled like the last one. The walked inside, and stood in the middle and looked around.

There was no observation deck at the top of the room. And as soon as they were inside the door that they had entered through closed and basically disappeared. "Want a demo?" Pyro whispered into Kitty's ear. She nodded.

"Computer, begin Pyro's simulation 73 – Alpha," Pyro yelled out loud. The whole room shimmered and suddenly the ground underneath them moved and they were standing on grass. In front of them was a magnificent view of a river and the skyline of a city that Kitty didn't recognise. They were standing on what seemed like some cliffs, over looking the city. It was a beautiful view.

"Where are we?" Jean asked. Looking down at a small yacht that was sailing down stream.

"Technically, we're still in the Danger Room. But it's a simulation of my home city. Brisbane." Pyro explained, turning and looking wistfully at the passing cars on the road Kitty hadn't realised was behind them.

She bent down and touched the ground. It felt like soft dewy grass. Her hand even felt wet. "It's so realistic." Jean said amazed.

"Yeah, Logan did real well with the small things. He was very picky with the attention to detail." Todd said looking around. "This isn't all it does…

"Computer, Toad's exercise 4," Todd yelled out to the invisible computer.

The image around them shimmered again, and they were back in the metallic Danger Room. Todd warned them to stay in the middle. He then hopped towards the wall, when all of a sudden; blasters and guns popped out of the walls, and began shooting at Todd, who deftly avoided them by bouncing around the place. Pyro stood in the middle making sure that the two girls weren't in any danger, and a few times, he used his lighter and used the flame to create a fireball to direct a blast in another direction.

After about a minute of Toad's exercise, Pyro yelled out "End Sequence" And the whole room returned to its normal state.

"That is pretty cool." Kitty said in awe. "When do we get to try it out?"

Pyro shrugged, "We could make you up an exercise by the end of the week. You could try it then I suppose. Jean, you might not be able to try until your leg is fully healed."

She nodded and followed Toad who was now hopping away from the middle, and out the door that they came through. Kitty and Pyro made their way outside.

"Where did they get all the money to Build all this?" Jean asked, as they walked down the road.

"Well, some of it, was the Professor's, He willed it to Logan and Storm, since they were the two other adults in the house, and he knew that they would keep the school running with it if something should happen to him. Some of it Rogue got from Irene and Kurt inherited a lot from Mystique. When Warren joined, he alone brought in over a billion dollars. When it's all combined, it's a lot of money." Todd explained.

Pyro nodded, "We also have some contacts who are deeply involved in technological advances, so we often get state of the art equipment and technology before the public even knows about it. We have all sorts of fancy gadgets. Like the BlackBird II, the first one was destroyed when they destroyed the mansion."

"What happened to the rest of the Brotherhood Todd?" Jean asked, causing Todd to turn deathly white, and stop dead in his tracks.

He gulped, "You mean Wanda and Fred and Tabby?" He said hoarsely. Jean nodded slowly urging him to continue.

"Fred, he… he was injured in the Brotherhood fight. So was Tabby. They didn't make it to the Hospital. And Wanda, she got hit pretty bad…" Todd gulped slowly, as though he was holding back tears. "She stopped me from getting hit by a stray bullet. She was still alive by the time we got her to the hospital. But, when we got there… The doctors… they, refused to treat her, because she was a mutant…" A stray tear fell down his face. It was a very strange sight to see Todd crying. 

"She died in the Hospital parking lot, In the back of Lance's Jeep. Rogue got pretty pissed off at the Hospital staff, and I think she zapped the doctor that refused Wanda's entry." Pyro explained softly, as Todd was unable to continue.

"Now you see why Rogue and the rest of us are so adamantly against the Mutant Registration Bill." Pyro explained softly to Kitty as Jean comforted Todd, Obviously using her telepathy to soothe his pain. "That was 4 years ago, when mutants were only just beginning to emerge. It wasn't legal then, and it still isn't, but people still do it. If it comes into action, this sort of thing will happen all over the state. There will be segregation. Hospitals for mutants and hospitals for humans." 

"It'll be like the old segregation of Black people and White people. And I though America was the home of the free. What type of country will we be if we let this to happen again?" Jean said softly.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look good for the future." Pyro said softly, shaking his head, and heading down the hallway.

***

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recognise. They belong to Marvel. But I wished they belonged to me.

A/N: Hehehe… yay!! I got 18 reviews so far!! That's heaps!! :D Yay!! Yeah well, I gave you this nice long chapter for you lot to read. Hope you liked it. And if you did, leave a little review saying so. If you didn't, leave a little review saying so. If you think it could be better, leave a little review saying so, and what you think should be changed. All criticism is taken into account.

And a note to a reviewer whose name I can't remember right now, but I will eventually. The reason I added a new character instead of taking an old character from the comics, is that I didn't know any characters who have the ability to heal. However, you'll find in later chapters that other characters from the original series will pop up. I assure you :D

Yeah, So now you've read my ramblings, you can leave that little review I asked for. I review fics I read!! So it's only fair people do it back…:D


	4. Chapter 4

**_The brotherhood of men does not imply their equality. Families have their fools and their men of genius, their black sheep and their saints, their worldly successes and their worldly failures. A man should treat his brothers lovingly and with justice, according to the deserts of each. But the deserts of every brother are not the same.   
  
_**

**_Eric Hoffer_**

***

"How many of you know a mutant?" The Rogue/Marie Denver on the television screen, yelled out to the crowd of over 50000 people. At least half of the crowd raised their hands. Everyone who wasn't with Rogue was sitting in the Media room, watching the whole speech on the massive mini Movie screen.

   She continued "Are they any different to the Humans that you know?"

   A resounding 'NO' shook the entire street that they were lining.

   "That is exactly my point my friends. Our own leaders wish to persecute people just like us! There is absolutely nothing wrong with them. They have committed no crime to society. Most are just normal people with a slightly different DNA structure, trying to get along with their lives, but are struggling to survive, because already, they are being prosecuted by a government who thinks that they can be judge and jury to someone who deserves exactly the same treatment that any normal person would get."

   She raised her hands in a gesture of frustration. "I know when I voted for our Government, I voted for the people I thought would govern this Country in the best way, but—" She didn't finish the sentence, as a gun shot sounded and Rogue/Marie Denver fell down on the Stage.

   Massive shock rippled through the crowd and the group watching the whole thing live on the television, while medics (and a livid Logan) ran over to Rogue/Marie Denver who was lying on the stage, barely breathing.

   Remy who was sitting next to Kitty as they were watching the whole thing, took in a choking gasp. His hands began to glow pink and his red eyes blazed, but Pyro grabbed a deck of Cards off the table and threw Remy the 7 of Spades. The pink glow transferred over to the card then Remy tossed it up into the air, where it exploded with a bang. 

   The fire it caused was quickly extinguished by Pyro, who looked slightly annoyed  

   Everyone still stared at the Television screen, where they were lifting Rogue up onto a stretcher. Her right shoulder bleeding profusely. 

   Logan seemed to have convinced one of the Medics to let him ride in the Ambulance with her, because as soon as Rogue's stretcher was pushed into the Ambulance, Logan jumped in behind her. The Paramedic closed the doors, and the Ambulance sped away, sirens blaring.

   The phone rang and Kurt picked up the receiver "Yes Logan." He commanded quietly into the phone. Logan said something back, and Kurt nodded. "Yes, oh that's good… yep… I'll be there in 2 minutes… ok…" He clicked the "end" button on the phone.

   "I'm going to teleport Rogue back here, she's going to need surgery to get rid of the bullet in her right shoulder, but then Logan says he'll do the rest." Kurt explained to everyone else in the room. With that, he teleported out, leaving the familiar smell of Sulphur and Brimstone to waft around the room.

   Chase hurried out of the room, while everyone else stayed in the media room, watching the chaos that was erupting on the Television. Police were now on the scene, a few were standing on the stage, looking for "evidence", but most were in the crowd, stopping them from panicking. The looked to be escorting people out of the area. 

   Remy looked furious, but worried at the same time. His face was paler than usual, and he even seemed slightly sick.

   "It's ok Remy, She'll be fine." John said soothingly placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "She'll be apples mate!!"

   "They should be in the infirmary by the time we make it down there." Lance said quietly, and they all headed towards the med lab.

***

   "She's absolutely fine, the bullet missed all her main blood vessels, and only grazed her right lung." Chase said to the crowd that was waiting in the living room. "She's sleeping right now, but she should be fine to leave the hospital tomorrow morning."

   A collective cheer went up throughout the room. All the colour in Remy's face returned, and he headed towards the room that Chase had just exited. Chase didn't try and stop him.

   Logan himself came out of the room, rubbing his head. As Kitty remembered, when Rogue took someone else's powers, she always left the person with a killer headache. Todd handed him a glass of water, which he greedily emptied in seconds.

   "Thanks, bub," He said gruffly, plonking the empty glass down on the nearest table. He then stalked off somewhere. Kitty assumed he was going to go to his room. But then again, when she thought about it, he was probably going to head to the Danger Room, to vent off some steam.

   Kitty pondered this for a while, but over heard Jean asking Chase something, "I thought you could heal people, why did Logan have to give her some of his powers?" When Kitty thought about it, it was a fairly good question. She waited for an answer.

   "Yes I can heal, but it is fairly taxing on me when I do it, and it takes a while for me to recover. But with Rogue, Logan usually insists that he lends her his powers. He's quite protective of her, and he insists that it doesn't take anything out of him. Not that it would really matter in Logan's case." Chase explained.

   "But can't Rogue still use the powers of people she has absorbed, even if it was a long time since she absorbed them?"

   Chase was slightly reluctant when answering that question. However it wasn't as though he didn't want to, only that he didn't know how to. "Yes… she does retain some of the powers she has borrowed from others. However she needs to be consciously thinking about that person at the time. It's rather complicated… Sometimes, she has dreams that involve other people, and she accidentally invokes other people's powers."

   Kitty tuned out, she knew that the conversation would soon turn technical. And even though she was interested in finding out about her friends mutations, she didn't want to be lectured on the subject. She excused herself and made her way out of the room.

   "Kitty! Wait up!" She heard Pyro's familiar voice call out to her. She stopped in the corridor and waited for him to catch up. "I noticed that you're wearing some of Rogue's old clothes, so I organised for you to go to the shops tomorrow, to get some new one."

   Kitty felt her whole face light up. "Really? You mean, really shopping, like at a Mall, with like real money?" She knew she sounded a bit flabbergasted, and ditzy, but at that point she didn't really care.

   Pyro laughed out loud. "Yes, at a Mall, with real money."

   Kitty let out a small squeal and launched herself at the poor guy's neck. He just laughed and gently hugged her back. "Are you gonna come with me?" She asked while she was still attached to his neck.

   "No, I'm sorry." He said sadly. "But I organised Warren to go with you." He laughed again at her facial expression, which was one of annoyance and disappointment. "He's actually really nice bloke. I think you'll enjoy his company."

   "So he's gonna carry all my bags?" She asked coyly.

   "If you can convince him to, maybe. He's mainly there for your protection. You know those wings he has on his back?" She nodded; it was hard to miss them. "They aren't just for flying. They are a really good shield, can protect you from basically anything the FOH can throw at us."

   "Who or what are the FOH?" Kitty asked. She had heard this name in scattered conversations, over the past few days, but had never asked anyone what it stood for.

   "You don't know?" She shook her head. Pyro let out a huge breath, "The FOH, are the Friends of Humanity. They're a radical group that strongly believes that Mutants are dangerous to Humans and should be locked up or killed. Very chummy with the Ku Klux Klan"

   "Are they even legal?"

   "Yes, we think they have big friends in high places. They managed to get some sort of a law passed. So they are Legal. We think that Senator McPherson is one of the 'big friends' so to speak. We have some evidence showing he is a member, but it's not rock solid." Pyro turned down the corridor that led to the sleeping quarters.

   "Do you think that they were the ones who held us captive all those years?" 

   Pyro shrugged, "Quite possible. They have been known to kidnap mutants and do 'research' on them."

   Kitty let out an involuntary shudder. Pyro noticed this and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Listen Kitty. You're safe with us now; we won't let them get you. I promise."

   "How can you be sure? I mean, 4 years ago, we thought we were safe, and look at what happened to us! And now, the attitude towards Mutants is worse. How can we ever really be safe when the world wants us dead?"

   "There are only a few who want us dead. We are unfortunate enough to live in a country that has some very racist people. But there are many who believe that we are just normal people, who are struggling with something we have no control over." Pyro said gently, trying to calm her down.

   "Yeah sure there are, and look what happened to them. They get shot…" Kitty said bluntly.

   "Kitty, what Rogue did was her choice. She knew the consequences and the drawbacks, but she still decided that it would be a good idea." Pyro said soothingly, somehow his accent making her feel slightly better. The words he said did not.

   "Just because she knew it might happen doesn't make me feel any better. In fact it makes me feel quite the opposite." They stopped outside her room. 

   "I'll see you tomorrow then?" Pyro asked. Looking at her hopefully. "Probably in the afternoon. I have to do some stuff in the morning."

   "Yeah, maybe." She said her goodbyes and closed her door behind her. She was tired. And her back was starting to ache. She remembered that she had jarred it when jumping out of that window. How she had forgotten she didn't know but she brushed the pain aside.

   She quickly stripped off her clothes and walked into the small bathroom that branched off her room. She turned on the shower, and stepped under the warm water. After letting the water flow over her body, she grabbed the bottle of shampoo and squirted some onto her hand. She then began to gently massage it into her scalp. 

   _How nice it feels to be clean. Kitty absent mindly thought to herself. _

   _Yes, it does doesn't it… Kitty heard Jean's voice resounding through her head._

   Kitty tensed up. _I thought you didn't go into people's heads without permission Jean._

_   You were projecting your thoughts. I couldn't help it. It's so weird talking like this again. It's been so long since I've used my powers.  _She mentally shrugged back. _So how come you left so early?_

_   I was tired and felt like a shower, plus I need time to accept all this._

_   I know the feeling. Everything has changed. EveryONE has changed._

Kitty sighed as she washed the foamy shampoo out of her hair. She then grabbed the conditioner and squirted some onto her palm. _Somehow I get the feeling that something else has happened. That no one wants to talk about._

_   Mmm… Yeah, I know what you mean. _She paused for a second, as though she was talking to someone. Then after a few seconds, she began talking again. _Look at Todd, and Lance. Todd seems so much more… I dunno… sad._

_   And Lance looks depressed. Like his mum died or something. But he didn't have a mum… so that doesn't make sense_

_   Yeah… _Jean was quiet again. This time Kitty was sure that someone was talking to her, so she projected her thoughts over.

_   Who're you talking to? _

   _Warren, you know, Angel? Jean replied. ___

_   Yeah, I'm going shopping with him tomorrow. Pyro organised it for me. _Kitty told Jean as she turned off the taps.

   _Yeah, I went yesterday with Kurt. It was so weird. Jean mentally nodded, while Kitty reached for the fluffy white towel hanging behind the door. She wrapped it around her chest and grabbed another towel and began to dry her hair._

   _I don't think I'm going to get used to listening to him talk without his German accent._

_   It's not just that… He isn't the Kurt we used to know. _Jean sighed.

   _When I woke up this morning, Kurt was the one sitting next to my bed, and we talked for a while. He told me a bit about what happened after we were abducted. They stayed in the Brotherhood house, and apparently they killed Mystique right in front of him._

_   That might be it… But then Kurt and Mystique were never close were they._

_   Yeah, but she was still his mother._

There was an awkward silence between them, as Kitty began dressing herself in on of Rogue's old pyjamas that someone had dropped off in her room. _Yeah, I'm going to bed now, I'm exhausted. _Kitty told Jean as she climbed into the bed.

   _Ok then, goodnight._

_   Night Night._

_*** _

   Disclaimer: Any characters you recognise, unfortunately I don't own. However, I'd gladly take them as a gift… any takers? No? Oh well… it was worth a try.

A/N: Hehehe… Yeah, I know that was slightly evil, but it all has a purpose.

   Okies, I think I should do some shout-outs, Umm… here we go. I'm not gonna do any exact ones, quite frankly, I couldn't be bothered.

   MarvelsX-girl, ZenZen, Dowriter12, ishandahalf, Yumiko, Carla1, ChaosCat, RogueLeBeau, Suzaka, Rogue15, Kitty, arayah, Never In Ur Wildest Dreamz, Neurotic Temptress, Shockgoddess and GhettoPixiStixLover.

   That's it… coolies!! Yeah, so review this chapter, and maybe I'll give you another chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**_If you're in a bad situation, don't worry it'll change. If you're in a good situation, don't worry it'll change.   
  
_**

**_John A. Simone, Sr._**

***

   Kitty giggled as she watched Angel struggle with all of her bags. With a little bit of a nudge and a sweet smile, he had happily agreed to carry her bags. He was so ignorant she almost felt sorry for him… almost.

   "Do you want me to open the car door for you?" Kitty offered, watching him struggle to put the key in the keyhole.

   "No, I've got it." He mumbled, still trying in vain find the keyhole. After watching him persevere for a few minutes, Kitty phased her hand through the glass window and unlocked the door from the inside. She then opened the door out wide.

   He blushed and said a quick "Thanks" before piling the many bags into the back seat of the car.  Once he was finished she gently closed the door and locked the door again, using the same process as before.

   "Where are we going now?" He asked her as she started walking back down the street.

   "Only one more place left, and then we can go home. If we're lucky, we'll be back in time for afternoon tea." Kitty chirped and grabbed Angel's hand and dragged him along. He looked quite annoyed, but being the quiet well mannered man that he was. He just complied with her wishes.

   Kitty was having the time of her life. She'd forgotten how much she loved shopping. Then again, after all those years in imprisonment, you tended to forget all the good things and began to dwell on the bad ones.

   She shook her head firmly. Shaking away her memories of that place. _No she gently chided herself. _I'm here to have a good time, not to dwell on that place.__

   Angel must've seen her shaking her head, as he asked: "Is something wrong?"

   "No," She said quite unconvincingly. Angel raised an eyebrow but didn't push it further. If she didn't want to talk about it, she would probably have a good reason. Considering how much she talked normally anyway…

   Angel did his regular scan of the crowd. He'd been doing this all day. And luckily all day, he hadn't seen anyone who posed any threat to him or Kitty. That was until now. 

   Walking towards them were two men and a woman, all wearing identical Blue and Black Uniforms. FOH soldiers.

   Angel grabbed Kitty's hand suddenly and pulled her back in the direction they had just come from.

   "Hey! Where're we going?" She spluttered.

   "There are FOH soldiers walking straight towards us." He muttered quietly, so only she could hear him. He took a glance to his left and right… More FOH soldiers, they were surrounding them. "They're surrounding us."

   Kitty glanced over her shoulder at the three people all wearing identical uniforms, heading in their direction. 

   She froze in fear at those uniforms. The blue jumpsuit with the black diagonal strip running across the chest. Those were the uniforms that brought her the meals she had eaten for the past 4 years. Those were the uniforms that escorted her away to the lab. Those uniforms were the ones that tortured her, abused her… violated her. The uniforms that took Evan and Hank, away to their deaths. The uniforms that were going to send her to her own…

   Angel tugged on Kitty's arm, but she didn't move. He turned around to see her face crumple sickeningly, and her knees collapse from underneath her. Luckily Angel caught her under the arms.

   He dragged her down a side alley, and quickly shed the trench coat that was covering his massive wings. He spread his wings out and picked up Kitty in his arms. She was so light that she didn't hinder his take off at all. The flapping of his wings caused a massive gust of wind that turned over many dustbins that were in the alley, and disorientated the several FOH soldiers that had followed them into the alleyway.

   The tips of Angel's wings barely missed hitting the buildings, but in only a few seconds, he was out in the open, flying over the tops of the city's buildings. Normally he would slow down right about now, and enjoy watching the people walking down the streets going about their daily business, but the girl in his arms was going into shock.

   The closest place was his studio. He flew there quickly and subtly. He didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. He was too well known in this city anyway. Soon he landed on the top of his building, still holding Kitty in his arms.

   She was shivering. Though he could already tell it wasn't from the quick flight they had just taken. He folded his wings back into their usual position, and quickly ran towards the elevator that went down to the apartments. He pressed the button and waited for the lift to reach their level.

   Kitty's eyes were open once again, tears flowing steadily down her cheeks. They darted from Angel's face to the elevator and the surrounding area, and then back to his face again. She continued doing this for a while, until a small *ting* of a bell announced that the elevator was about to open. 

   She looked warily about, and even refused to enter the elevator for a few seconds, trying vainly to get out. Muttering something about Uniforms and small spaces. Angel however eventually managed to convince her to stand in the elevator next to him. 

   However the whole time, she gripped his hand so hard, that his bones felt like they were being crushed, and cried silently. Fortunately, they only had to use the elevator to go down a few floors, so the ride wasn't that long.

   The small *ting* again sounded. And the doors to the elevator opened. He gently tugged Kitty out of the elevator by the hand. She took a few edgy steps out of the elevator, before her legs gave up on her again. Angel caught her again and picked her up gently just like he had before. He unlocked the door to his apartment with one of his hands and awkwardly carried her inside, and to the couch, where he laid her down softly. 

   He then walked over to where his telephone was, and then dialled a number.

   "Hey Kurt its Angel… I need you to pick me and Kitty up from my place… No my studio… It's a long story, I'll tell you later… ok then… bye" After the quick exchange with Kurt, he placed the phone back down on the receiver, and walked back over to where Kitty was lying—well, more curled up in the foetal position.

   He placed hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to calm her, but it only made her jerk away. She looked up at him, with big wide eyes, obviously scared to death by him.

   "Kitty? I'm not going to hurt you." He said softly, reaching his hand out again. She cowered again, and resumed her crying.

   The familiar *Bamf* noise alerted Angel to Kurt's presence. He turned to face his fuzzy friend.

   "Kitty?" He asked, seeing Kitty on the couch. He turned to Angel "What's wrong with her?"

   "Mental breakdown I think. We had a run in with some FOH soldiers." He watched Kurt swear under his breath.

   "We should get her back to the mansion; we can help her more there."

   Kurt nodded, "I know." He made his way over to the couch, and knelt down, so his eyes were level with Kitty's. She was still crying, but she looked up at him when he said her name. "Kitty, we're going to take you home now ok?" He said softly.

   She looked at him wearily, her eyes flicking back and forth between Kurt and Angel, who was still standing right next to her. Finally she said timidly, Kurt barely hearing "Are they going to take me away?"

   Kurt held out his hand to her. "I swear on my tail, I won't let them hurt you anymore."

   He could've sworn he'd seen her smile, if only for a second, at the little promise that they had made up so many years ago, but if she had smiled, there was no sign of it. However she did gingerly reach out her hand and grasp Kurt's furry three fingered one in her own.

   Angel placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder and they teleported back to the mansion. 

***

   "—Late yesterday, while speaking in front of a crowd of over 48 000 in Boston, Marie Denver, a well spoken Anti-Mutant Registration Bill lobbyer was the victim of an assassination attempt. While in the middle of her speech, several shots were fired, on hitting Miss Denver in the right shoulder. She was immediately flown to a private hospital, where she underwent surgery to have the bullet removed. Police are investigating the shooting, and anyone who has any information pertaining to the crime should call Crime Stoppers on 296-184 " The television clicked off.

   Senator McPherson was not a patient man. When he wanted something done, he made it happen. He expected results.

   Someone knocked on his office door. 

   "Come in." He said, watching the door open, and the timid man walk through the door.

   "Ah yes, Mr Gold, just the person I was hoping to see." McPherson said softly, keeping his gaze locked on the weedy man before him.

   The man stuttered "Senator McPherson, I can explain. It was—" 

   "No." McPherson cut him off. "I don't want excuses. Excuses don't get me to the White House. You know what does Mr Gold?" He stood up and leant over the chair that Mr Gold was sitting in, until they were face to face, barely inches away from each other.

   "Results." He hissed pulling away. He straightened up and moved back over to his desk, where he opened a drawer, pulling out something that Mr Gold couldn't see. "Do you know what I do to people who do not give me the results that I have asked for, Mr Gold?"

   "No Mr McPherson." Mr Gold stuttered again.

   Senator McPherson raised the gun he had in his hand and pointed it directly at the other man's head. Mr Gold let out a small whimper.

   "They die." He said simply pulling the trigger. The body slumped against the chair, a small blood spatter on the wall next to him.

   Senator McPherson moved back over to his desk and placed the gun back inside the drawer. He then pressed the button to call his assistant.

   The man walked in a few seconds later, not at all surprised to see the dead body slumped against the chair.

   "Yes, get a clean up team in here. Tell them to make it look like Mutants killed him." Senator McPherson instructed, sitting down behind his desk again. "Oh, and Scott?"

   The man looked up, the rose-tinted reflection of the Senator showed in the sunglasses he was wearing.

   "Can you get me a coffee please?"

***

Disclaimer: Sadly, they don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel (mutters darkly under breath about slowness in bringing season 3 to Australia).

A/N: Hehehe… bet you didn't see THAT one coming. I am SO cunning… well… actually, it's probably already been done, but I don't care. Bugger off if you don't like me doing that… yeah, so I'm just gonna say hi to the other people who reviewed, then go and work on my Science Assignment… the boring thing that it is. I'd much rather sit at my computer and type up the next chapter, but It's due next week…

So, shout outs…

Yumiko: Yes, you did review, and just for that here is the next chapter, fresh of the disk, just for you.

Suzaka: Yep, I like getting acknowledged too… that's why I do it, so people feel special. And about the adding characters from the comic. Who said I'm not going to? *wink*

Ishandahalf: Yep, you guessed right, you could see it coming though couldn't you. And I liked Remy's reaction too… much better than the first one I had written. But about the rest of the Romyness, it doesn't come until later, as it says in the summary; it's a plot-centric fic, not a romance centric fic. And I know there are some good Plot and Romance centric fics, but I'm not good at the Romance side of things. Most you're going to get is characters mentioning how close they seem, or them holding hands… I know that's sad, but don't stop reading just cos of that. I have a few chapters written, and the plot gets good, if I do say so myself.

DoWriter12: Thanks

ZenZen: You. Wouldn't. Dare. I just might have to strangle you if you decided to do that, or poke you incessantly during Japanese. And don't think I wont… I can be incessantly evil when I feel like it, and you know that better than anyone. And yes, as a person who has read the other chapters, you would know what a stupid useless character he is,  but no mentioning his name in reviews, or anything that is going to come up… or I just may kill you

MarvelsX-girl: Wow, I'm on someone's favourites list. Didn't see that one coming. And you had a dream about my fic? That's super freaky… (that sounds like an old 80's rock song) Usually I'm the only one who has dreams about my fics… and that would explain most of my fic ideas… creepily disorganised. Except this one. I have like 8 more chapters writer already. Stops me from having huge gaps where I don't upload.

Yeah, I think that's about it… yep… Now must go finish Science Assignment, while laughing at my puppy dog, who has a bucket around her head… oh she looks so adorable… 


	6. Chapter 6

**_A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute. He may not seem such a good friend after telling. _**

**_Arthur Brisbane, _****__**

***

"What happened to her?" Jean asked Kurt, while watching as Kitty finally fell asleep on the Med-lab bed.

   Kurt only shrugged in answer, "That's probably something only she could answer. Angel said she had a breakdown."

   "Why?" Jean asked shocked, shifting her weight on her crutches.

   "They were being chased by FOH soldiers, Kitty broke down as soon as she saw them." Kurt relayed the story told to him. Jean listened intently, her brow furrowing as she comprehended what he said. A small notion popped into her head.

   "These FOH soldiers, do they have uniforms?" 

   Kurt nodded. "Blue with a diagonal black stripe on the chest, why?"

   "I had a feeling. That's the same uniform that the guards wore, in that containment facility." Jean explained, thinking back to a few days ago.

   "Oh," Kurt looked down at the floor, not knowing what to say. Jean took his silence as a sign to continue.

   "Most of the time, they were fine. If you behaved, sometimes the nicer ones would give you extra food. There was one Asian female guard, who I don't think believed in what they were doing to us. For the 4 weeks she was there, she'd talk to us, tell us jokes and stuff. Trying to keep our spirits up. She got taken away though, after one day they saw her slip a note to one of the other prisoners.

   "Not all of the guards were like that. Most were sadistic bastards, who'd do anything for a bit of fun. There was one boy, about 13, who had the most beautiful multi-coloured hair; a side affect of his mutation … But the guards didn't like it. One day they summoned him to the middle of the exercise yard, and shaved it all of with a butchers knife. They didn't do it well, not that that was what they intended to do, and he had heaps of cuts and scars on his head for weeks. Some of them got infected, it was really sickening. The guards just laughed and made fun of him, when he asked for medical assistance."

   Jean turned to look at Kitty, who was now sleeping peacefully on the hospital cot. "There were about three Guards, who were…" She struggled to find words, "Stressed.  And not in the overworked sense. They took it out on a few girls. Kitty included."

   Kurt looked shocked, his mouth drawn in a stiff angry line. "You mean they, they…" He could finish the sentence resorting to waving his three fingered hand at Kitty angrily. Jean shook her head.

   "No I think they just beat her up. Every time they brought her back, she was terrified. She wouldn't let any guy near her, not even Hank and Evan. It took a few weeks, for them to regain her trust."

   "Did they ever... To you?"  He asked awkwardly, his voice trailing off to nothing.

   She shook her head, "No,"

   He placed his hand on Jean's shoulder. "Tell me when she wakes up." Jean nodded, but didn't respond verbally. She then went and sat down next to Kitty's bed, and began waiting for her friend to wake up.

   When he realised that she wasn't going to say anything else, he took his hand away, and muttered something about a Danger Room session that he had to be at. She let him go.

   As soon as Kurt was out of the bedroom, he teleported into the Danger Room, where the rest of the group was assembling. Logan was leading the group in some stretches. 

   "How's Half-Pint going?" Logan asked on behalf of the group, while Nightcrawler joined the group in stretching.

   "She's asleep. Jean's watching her," He mumbled as he bent to touch his toes.

  "Good," Logan said in a tone that told everybody, that that was all that was needed to be said on the topic.

   Nightcrawler ignored Logan's tone of voice though and continued on while beginning to stretch his thighs, "I talked to Jean about it though, and I know why Kitty broke down."

   Everyone in the room turned sharply to look at him, he continued "It _was the FOH who kept them captured for all that time."_

   "That doesn't explain a damn thing elf," Lance said glaring at him. Nightcrawler flinched under his gaze.

   "What he means is: elaborate," Toad said from behind Gambit who was flexing and stretching his arms.

   Kurt stopped stretching. "Well it was like a prison camp, in all meanings of the word."

   "What do you mean?" Angel began, then in clicked, "Oh."

   "I'll kill 'em." Logan growled, his claws involuntarily popping out. Lance looked quite angry; the ground even shook for a few seconds, before Rogue put a soft hand on his shoulder, and the rumbling ceased.

   Rogue spoke up softly, "I know we're all mad or upset about what happened to Kitty, but there is nothing we can do about it now. Just concentrate on the Danger Room session and there'll be a time when we can get as much revenge as we feel the need to give, but now is not the time."

   "Stripes is right," Logan agreed, popping his claws back in with a *SNIKT*. "Revenge is the best dish served cold."

   "Ok," Rogue nodded, and shouted out to the computer, "Group session 47 Gamma,"

***

   She knew she was awake, but her eyes were closed. She didn't want to open them. If she opened them, she'd have to face their pitying glances and their silent questions. No she was happy keeping her eyes closed and willing herself to go back to sleep.

   "I know you're awake Kitty" Jean's familiar voice broke through her thoughts.

   Kitty sighed and gently opened her eyes, and pulled herself into sitting position. She was in her bedroom again; Jean was sitting in the dull-grey armchair that was positioned on the other side of the room. She looked tired. Her hair wasn't in its usual perfect ponytail, it was out falling onto her shoulders, and it looked like someone needed to give it a good brush.

   "I know I look like shit Kitty," She said smiling wearily, "I haven't had much sleep."

   "I didn't say you could read my mind," Kitty said grumpily, crossing her arms defensively.

   "I didn't. You were projecting again; quite loudly in fact. I'll have to help you with that." Jean said kindly.

   Kitty didn't answer, but her stomach growled rather loudly. A small smile graced Jean's tired features.

   "John's bringing you some food now."

   "What time is it?" There was no clock in the room, so Kitty had no way of knowing.

   Jean glanced at her watch, "9 am."

   "And I've been asleep for…" Kitty drifted off indicating to Jean to fill her in on the information.

   "17 hours"

   Kitty involuntarily sucked in a harsh breath. "That long? You did put me to sleep right?"

   Jean nodded silently. "Yeah, but you were under a lot of emotional stress, you would've slept for a long time anyway. My way just made sure you didn't dream."

   "What did you tell them?" 

   Kitty noticed that Jean was avoiding eye contact, "I told them what happened. Well I told Kurt. I'm assuming he told the rest."

   Kitty didn't say anything, and turned to look at the blank wall beside her. In the opposite direction of Jean.

   "I'm sorry Kitty, but what else could I tell them?" Jean pleaded.

   "You could've told them nothing," Kitty snapped.

  "No one is going to treat you any different"

   "How do you—" She didn't finish her sentence as John opened the door whist balancing a tray of food on one arm.

   "Good to see you up mate," He said cheerfully as he placed the tray down on her bedside table, and took a seat on the side of Kitty's bed. He nodded to Jean, who smiled back at him. 

   "Hi John," Kitty said softly, avoiding eye contact.

   He smiled at her, pulled out his Zippo lighter, and gestured to the tray, "Bloody hell, it's gonna take a while getting used to having a spook in the house, She scared me half to death when she told me to bring you food."

   Kitty cracked a small smile, and John continued, flicking the lighter, creating a flame. "I was talking to Remy and all of a sudden I hear her in my head. When I answered her I think Remy thought I was a bit mad, talking to myself." He stopped and tilted his head as though thinking hard. "Come to think of it, he already thinks I'm bonkers so it's not a big problem."

   John watched the flame for a bit, and wiggled his fingers at it. It began to form a little flaming dog. It pounced and played on John's hand, John apparently immune to the fire's heat. He hear he moving around as she began to sit up, and squished the fire in his hand and helped her to sit up properly then picked up the tray off the bed side table, and placed it on her lap.  

 "How is everyone else?" Kitty asked, picking up a piece of buttered toast and taking a large bite out of the corner.  She saw out of the corner of her eye that Jean stood up and grabbed her crutches; she then hobbled out of the room, muttering a soft goodbye to Kitty and John.

   John noticed but continued on with the conversation flicking the lighter again, and creating another fire-creature. "Good, we all missed your bright and cheery presence."

   Kitty didn't answer but continued eating her toast and watching the little creature in John's hand, which vaguely resembled a rabbit.

   "Are you annoyed at Jean for telling us what happened in the Camp?"

   "That's one word to call it."

   He watched her take a sip of her orange juice, (the little creature dying instantly as his attention was drawn away from it) then asked "Why are you annoyed at her for it? Were you ashamed of it?"

   Again, she didn't answer.

   He continued, "There really isn't anything to be annoyed at her for. She did as any good friend would have done."

   "That's beside the point."

   "How so?"

   She dropped the remaining toast back onto the plate and glared at him, "Stop trying to be my therapist."

   "I'm not trying, but you need someone to talk to about it."

   "Well why did you come?" She asked, not in an accusing tone, but it still held a fair bit of resentment in it.

   "I came because I was concerned for a friend. Just like Jean was concerned for you." John said calmly. "Jean stayed with you the whole time you were asleep, making sure you didn't dream about anything that happened in there. Did she tell you that?"

   For the third time that morning, Kitty didn't answer. 

   "She stayed awake over 24hours, and she didn't let anyone take her place."

   A sudden sense of guilt rushed over Kitty when she recalled what she had said to Jean before. She looked back at the wall, finding a rather interesting smudge. She heard the lighter click again.

   "I'm not mad at *her*. Not really anyway." She finally said.

   "What are you mad at then," John asked quietly, then after a little thought, "or who?"

   "Well, the people at the Camp. They were such obnoxious bastards, always with an insult, or abuse. And for letting them get to me."

   John sighed, "It's not your fault Kitty."

   "I know that, but every time I think of it, I feel incredibly dirty."

   "All victims of abuse feel like that. All you need to remember is that it wasn't your fault."

   "I know that," Kitty huffed. "Now you really sound like a Psychiatrist."

   John laughed. Kitty frowned, "That wasn't meant as a compliment"

   "Oh I know that, it's just bloody funny."

   "Why?"

   "My old man was a psychiatrist, and I hated how he always knew what I was thinking. I think it's bloody ironic how you think I sound like one." John laughed again, clicking the lighter. He manipulated the flame to look like an old man with spectacles. "And when I grew up, I made myself a promise I wouldn't be like my dad. Look what happened, far out, I screwed up didn't I"

   Kitty giggled. "Your family sounds funny."

   John went with the subject change, "Oh they were. Dad was a shrink and my mum was a chalkie. Great combination."

   "A chalkie?" Kitty said bewildered.

   "A chalkie is a teacher."

   "Oh," Kitty smiled, "Did you have any brothers or sisters?"

   John sighed, "Yeah, I had a sister, Emily. She was 10 when I left."

   "When you joined the Acolytes?" Kitty returned to her toast, it was only barely warm now.

   John nodded, "Yeah, Mags came and visited me about 3 months after my powers manifested. Said he'd heard about me from a-" he  waved his hands and the little fireball he was holding split in two and formed two little hands that did the bunny ears motion,"'contact'. Though he probably saw me in the news."

   "You were on the news? I don't remember seeing you."

   "No, you probably wouldn't've. Mags watched all these international channels. It helped him keep tabs on world affairs. There were some really bad bushfires really close to my school one day. They evacuated it, but I was in the toilet at the time, and I didn't hear the bell.

   "The next thing I know, I'm surrounded by flames and all I could think of was how cool the were I wasn't even scared. Mum always did call me a pyromaniac. I don't know why, but I held up my hand and some of the fire moved with it. It was really cool. I began to play with it, then I realised that I was still at school, and the school art block was burning down. Not a big loss, but all the same, I thought to myself, if I can do this to a small bit of fire, maybe I can push it back. So I did. I put the fire out, and the firemen were absolutely shocked that I was still alive. I was all over the bloody media for a few days; front page on the newspaper: BOY SURVIVES BUSHFIRE WITHOUT INJURY."

   "But you didn't know you were a mutant?"

   "Didn't even know what a mutant was back then. Australia is a big country, but there are surprisingly few mutants. Maybe it's all the fresh air we have. But I still keep in contact with some of my close friends there, and they've told me that the Mutant issue is hardly even an issue over there."

   "That sounds great, why don't we all move over there then. It'd save a whole lot of trouble wouldn't it? Plus I'd get to see the Kangaroos!" Kitty smiled eagerly, "And Koala Bears and Wombats."

   John's face put on one of disgust. "Koala's aren't bears."

   "Well what are they?" Kitty teased.

   "Marsupials."

   "Whatever,"

   "Yeah, Australia is beautiful, adorable animals and all," Johns face went deadly serious, "But there are those bloody dangerous Drop Bears. My best mate was mauled by one when he was 7. It left him with a scar that ran all the way down the side of his face."

   Kitty paled, "Drop Bears? I've never heard of them before."

   "No, well you wouldn't have, we don't like to talk about them much. They're just too horrible for words."

   "What do they do?"

   John shuddered, "The look exactly like Koalas except the drop from trees onto the heads of innocent bystanders and try to eat their brains out through their ears. The only way to protect yourself against them is to rub balsamic vinegar onto your pressure points." 

   "They sound horrible!" Kitty said shocked, looking at John who still had the serious look on his face. However she noticed that the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly, as if he was holding back a smile.

   She narrowed her eyes, "Wait a minute, there are no such things as Drop Bears are there?"

   John couldn't hold it back any longer, and broke into maniacal laughter; he slapped his knee several times and almost fell off his chair.

   "The look…. on… your face!... Priceless!" He managed to say in between laughs, before falling back into his giggling.

   Kitty glared back at him, "That was so not funny. You were like leading me on."

   He managed to calm down a bit "I know!! And you believed me, that's what makes it funny. Even bloody Toad didn't believe me when I told him that story." He laughed a bit more.

    "Gee, that makes me feel so much better,"

   John smiled and patted her leg, "Don't worry, I wont tell anyone."

   Kitty scowled a bit more, and poked her tongue out at John, who was still red in the face from laughing. He laughed a bit more at her childish act, and poked his tongue straight back at her. Things were getting better already.

 ***

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, though I saw an Xmen evolution comic in the bookstore today, I didn't have enough money to buy it… doesn't that tell you something about my financial position.

Yeah, I know the ending to the last chapter was so very unexpected… ooh isn't I evil? Yeah, Scott is going to have a part in the rest of the fic, and I'm going to treat him like all the other characters because he's Just as good as the other characters. And I wont have any of those "Scott-Haters" on my back, because even though Scott is fun to write as anally retarded, he isn't really, and is quite a complex character… and I can't believe I'm ranting about Scott… but seriously, he is cool to write as evil. You have NO idea!! :D:D

Yeah, and onto the shoutouts.

MarvelsX-Girl – I'm honoured that you put me on your favourite's list… And yes… surprises ARE fun, especially to write.

ZenZen – Yes, evil Senator… but he'll get his comeuppance… oh yes he will…

Spadde – Yep… it's twisted, and just the way I like it too…

Rogue151 – Yeah, I just randomly picked a name out of my arse when I was thinking of what to call her, I only just realised that it was very similar to Danvers. But no, Carol is not going to have any part in this fic. Too much other stuff to include to write all the Rogue angst that has to come with that

Yumiko – Romy fluff… I can't do fluff… tried… it looked funny… like a dog barking at a dead fish on the side of the road… Nah, joking, as I've said before, this fic isn't about the Relationships. It's about the plot; one that I'm proud of. The most you're going to get of Romyness, is watching through the eyes of the main character (Kitty)

GhettoPixieStixLover – Yeah, poor Kitty.

 And that's it for the shoutouts. Now hop down and review like nice little readers…:D:D 


	7. Chapter 7

**_If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them. _**

**_Isaac Asimov _****__**

***

   Amara Aquilia looked older than she really was, and that was one of the things that had gotten her into this job in the first place. Impeccable manners: a result of her royal upbringing, Chiselled featured and a dark tan: A result of growing up on a tropical Island, and a very sharp mind. 

   All that, and she was one of the few members of the XMen whose mutation didn't have a physical aspect to it… Well except the whole turning into lava thing, but she could control that!

   She groaned and lifted the heavy files off her desk. More work. This time, they needed to be catalogued, collated and stored before 10:00, and then she needed to get back in touch with the Base. Since she didn't get the chance to do it yesterday, she had to do it today, it was procedure. "If we don't hear from you for 3 days straight, we're coming in to get you, so stay in contact" were Logan's exact words.

   She carried them to the desk that was sitting next to the 10 file cabinets that held information about things that ranged from the details of Senator McPherson's proposed Healthcare system, to known Terrorist profiles and to personal information about the employees.

   Her job as intern was to do all the jobs that no body else had the time to do (or wanted to do). She set about reading the files , deciding how to classify them and which filing cabinet to place them in.

   After working like this for about 15 minutes, she was already bored, and almost fell asleep on a file containing all the details on the Senator's employment list. To slightly interest she found her own name on the list before filing it under 'Employee Information'.

   She continued reading the files, and categorising them until she picked up a green folder with a white sticker with red writing reading "confidential" stuck on the front. She quickly looked up, to make sure that no body was watching her. They weren't, only one guy at a computer, who was very interested at whatever was on the screen.

   _Someone must've put it in the wrong place Amara thought to herself smiling. She opened up the file. __How stupid they were!_

   The first page was a short handwritten letter.

_Mark,_

_Make sure you get to Pier 15 before __9:00__. Meeting will be held at 9, and no one will be let in after that time. Bring the money. Small demonstration there._

_BT_

   Amara frowned to herself. The letter made no sense. She turned the page. This one seemed to be the minutes of a meeting. She quickly scanned the page; it looked innocent enough, so she flipped the page. It was phone records. All to a 'Boliver Trask'.

   She recognised the name, but she didn't remember where. She re-read it again, and racked her brain, trying to think of where she had seen the name 'Trask'. Then it hit her

   She casually walked over to the photocopying machine, so as not to look too suspicious, if the guy at the computer looked up at her, and made copies of every single scrap of paper in the folder. It took a long time, but when it was done, she placed them all in her briefcase and locked it. She glanced at the guy at the computer, he still had no clue she was even in the room. She then took out her Cell-phone and hit the autodial 1.

   The phone took a while to be answered, but eventually someone picked up.

   "Hello," Bobby's voice came through on the line, Amara groaned silently.

   "Hey sweetie, it's me. You rang earlier?"

   "What?"

   "Well, I got the tickets to that show that's in town, 'The Secretary'; I thought you might wanna come."

   "Amara, what are you on about?" She gritted her teeth at his incompetence. 

   "Yeah, I hear it's very _controversial_. Based on the _true story of a __corrupt lawyer and his secretary who dobbed him in" She emphasised the important words, so that maybe Bobby got the idea._

   It took a while, but Bobby did get the message. "Oh, I get you now; I'll tell Rogue and Logan, they'll call you later."

   "I'll see you at 7 then?" She asked, keeping up the façade of girlfriend talking to boyfriend.

   "Yep," Bobby said back, then added cheekily. "Wear something sexy."

   It took all of Amara's control not to yell at him through the phone.

   "Bye,"

   "Buhbye sugar-pie!!" He teased into the phone before she hung up. He was so getting a ass-whupping when she got home.

***

   Logan stood in front of everyone in the Locker room, wearing his orange and black X-Men uniform. "This is a team exercise; everyone will be split into pairs who'll do a job that's given to them. Half-Pint, wanna join?"

   She nodded enthusiastically from her seat in between to Toad and Multiple, who had grown a fair bit since she last saw him.

   "Ok, that means that we'll have an even group." Logan clicked a button on the keyboard behind him, and an image of a museum showed up on the large computer screen next to him. "The aim of this one is to get inside undetected to get the vase, and then get everyone out safely."

   He clicked the button again, and blueprints of the museum came up on screen. "Partners are going to be, Pyro and Avalanche, they'll be perimeter scouts. Make sure no extra security guards feel the need to go inside, there is enough inside already. Me and Rogue will be handling the security guards on the inside. Toad and Nightcrawler will get Gambit and Shadowcat onto the roof."

   He turned and looked at Remy and Kitty. "You two are the best equipped to actually acquire the Diamond and not be seen when doing it."

   Gambit and Kitty nodded. Kitty had found out from Pyro that Remy was a thief; and a good one at that. Apparently he was sought out globally for his talents. Something Kitty found hard to believe of the suave Cajun. (Pyro had also told her that he was from New Orleans and not from France as she had originally thought)

   Gambit caught her eye and winked, "Looks like you an' me be workin' together fille."

  "Looks like it," She agreed.

   "Chase and Jean will be monitoring all progress from the control room. If they see anybody in danger - and there have been dangerous situations programmed in- they have been told to stop the exercise. I don't want that to happen understood? Good, let's go then." Everyone stood up and headed towards the door of the Danger Room.

   Jubilee stood up, "Hey Logan, what about us?" indicating Jamie as well.

   "We need to have people up in the control room. Chase and Jean can't do everything themselves,"

   "That is so unfair, just because we're younger than you," Jubilee grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest in a very teenagerly way.

   "Don't take it to heart Kid, next time, promise" Logan said in his gruff-yet-kind voice, and continued walking. The doors to the Danger Room automatically opening for him, and closing when the entire group had walked through.

   The scenario had already started as they walked in, and they were standing in a dark alleyway, across the street from the Museum. Kitty turned around to look at the door that led back into the locker room, but found there only to be a brick wall, with a half-empty trashcan sitting next to it. 

   "OK everyone, you know your assignments. Go." Wolverine instructed quietly and the alleyway began to empty. Shadowcat and Gambit waited for Nightcrawler and Toad who were scaling the walls to the side. Nightcrawler doing his own for of aerial acrobatics on the emergency staircase of the building next to them, and Toad using his tongue as a grappling hook to hoist himself up to the top of the building on the other side.

   Shadowcat looked at Gambit who had a card held between his first and second fingers. His red eyes were glowing oddly bright in the darkness. "What are we waiting for?" She asked him, when he didn't move.

   "Nightcrawler an' Toad are checkin' dat no one is on the roof of de other building. Nightcrawler will be back in a court pendant que*,"

   Sure enough, the familiar *BAMF* sound accompanied by the smell of sulphur came from behind them. There was a small cut above his eyelid, but apart from that he was ok. He held out his hand to Shadowcat, and the other to Gambit. They both took them, and a second later, they were on the roof of the Museum.

   Toad was perched on top of an air-conditioning vent, watching two men who were unconscious.

      Gambit pressed down the X on his uniform, and spoke into the communicator, "Wolverine, is de coast clear?"

   He let go of the X and waited for a response. It came quickly. 

   "Yep, just watch out for security cameras."

   He clicked it on again, "Je comprends**" He turned to Kitty. "Ya can disable de cameras right?"

   She nodded. "Just tell me where they are, and they'll be out of action before you know it."

   "Good, lets go, shall we?" He said, holding out his hand. She grabbed it and phased slowly through the floor.

***

   "That went well. Half-Pint, good job taking those cameras out of action, and avoiding that laser grid." Kitty swelled at Logan's compliment. After so many years out of practice, it showed that she still had the moves. "OK, we can hit the showers now"

   Everybody stood up to leave, when Bobby strolled casually into the room. "Amara contacted us, apparently she has some info."

   Rogue nodded and began to pat her face with a towel, to remove the sweat that had formed there. She and Logan had run into a few more security guards than planned.

   "What did she say?" Logan asked gruffly.

   "It's 'a controversial show about a corrupt lawyer'." Bobby put on a high falsetto imitation of Amara's voice, "Whatever that means."

   "It means she's found the information we're looking for. Did she say if she would call back?" Logan said shortly.

   Bobby shook his head, "I said you'd call her back."

   "OK," Rogue and Logan exchanged a glance.

   "I dunno about you guys, but I need a shower. I reek like road kill in summer." Pyro yawned and turned to leave.

   "Yeah, me too." Kurt continued out the door after Pyro. Everyone else followed suit, until there was only Jean and Kitty left in the room.

   "So…" Kitty ventured, breaking the uncomfortable silence that surrounded the pair.

   "Listen Kitty—" Jean began, but Kitty interrupted. 

   "I'm sorry for being bitchy yesterday morning."

   "That's OK; I shouldn't have told anybody in the first place, it wasn't any of my business,"

   "No you should have. They had a right to know."

   The awkward silence yet again fell over the pair, before Kitty spoke up again.

   "So… are we still friends?"

   "Yeah we're still friends!!" Jean laughed and held her arms out while still supporting the crutches. Kitty walked over and they hugged, the crutches accidentally falling to the ground. 

   When they pulled away, Kitty bent down to pick them up but Jean said "Don't worry, I've got them," and used her telekinesis to lift them up to her level.

   "I need all the practice I can get. I used to be able to lift a bus, but I'm out of practice.

   Kitty nodded and laughed. Then they both walked out the door, and headed for the Kitchen where they spent the rest of the afternoon, attempting to make cookies.

***

Translations

*court pendant que- short while

**Je comprends- I understand

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, they belong to Marvel, I'm just borrowing them to do my dirty work.

A/N: Well… 48 reviews!! Me happy!! *dances around* see!! This is me being happy!! *smiles* happy is good… I hope you're all happy with me!! 

Thanks for reviewing: Yumiko, archmagus, Rogue151, IMpuLsIvE THouGhTs, DoWriter12, RogueLeBeau, ZenZen and Ishandahalf.  
  


You're all super cool for reviewing… Now be extra super cool everybody and review again!!... and all you others who didn't review last time, You can be added to the super cool list! And get a free chocolate bar! Just by clicking the little bar at the bottom and saying "I'm super cool!" 

So go on… be super cool, Review!!


	8. Chapter 8

**_In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. _**

**_Dwight D. Eisenhower _****__**

***

They were in the meeting room again, but this time there were more people present. Amara, who Kitty hadn't seen since before the mansion was attacked, was there, and all of the junior recruits. Some of whom she didn't even recognise until they talked to her.

   One of these people was Bobby. His hair had gone from a light shade of brown to a shabby blondish colour. He had grown much taller than she expected he would, at least a foot taller than her. (Though that wasn't really hard considering her height). His voice was much deeper, but she could still hear the cheeky Bobby hidden underneath it all. 

   He was sitting across the table from her, next to Jubilee who had taken Remy's spot. Amara was sitting at the opposite end of the table to Rogue, looking quite pleased with herself. Multiple was also present, residing next to Warren.

   Rogue coughed loudly to get everyone's attention. It took a while, but eventually everybody was silent, and Rogue continued on.

   "Thanks to Amara, we have *some* solid information, that the Senator has been backin' controversial foundations. Nothin' solid on the FOH, but we have got phone records of him talkin' to who we suspect is their leader Boliver Trask." She held up the manila folder that was placed in front of her. 

   There were other identical ones sitting in front of everybody else. Kitty reached for hers and opened it. The phone records were sitting on the top. She flipped over the page and saw a photocopy of a hand written note. "There is also a hand written note that states a meetin' place and time. Now we don't know what's goin' to happen there, but we intend to find out. We also intend to find out if we can get any more information – more solid information – on his connections. They'll probably be held in his office. So what we're goin' to do is have two teams. One which is goin' to monitor the meetin', and the other which is going to break into the Senator's office."

   "Gambit will lead the team that's goin' to break into the Senator's office. Shadowcat, Pyro, Multiple, Nightcrawler and Avalanche will be on that team. Pyro and Avalanche, you're a distraction. Nightcrawler, you're transportation. Multiple. Since the pier is in telepathic reach of the Senator's offices, you'll keep in contact with Jean at all times and provide the man-power if it's needed.  Gambit and Shadowcat, you'll be gettin' the information. Kitty with your skills with computers, ya can hack into their network, Gambit you'll do all the hands on stuff."

   Gambit and the rest of the team nodded. Kitty looked at the team she was assigned. They were basically the same people she had worked with in the danger room the day before.

   "Everybody else - including you Jean – will be with me and Logan, at the meeting. Jean, you're going to keep us all in contact with everybody else, and if you wish, you can scan the people there for information. Will you be OK with that?"

   Jean looked down at the documents in her manila folder, and answered a quiet 'Yep,'. 

   Rogue continued to assign tasks to the remaining members in her team. Toad and Jubilee: reconnaissance. Herself: undercover, using Mystique's power of course. Wolverine and Bobby would be backup. Angel would be lookout.

   Finally when she was finished she turned back to Amara, "Amara, we can't assign you any tasks, as they could jeopardise your cover. However, you can help the first team in planning their operation. Then I want you to go back to work, see if you can get any extra details before we go ahead with tonight's plans."

   Amara nodded.

  Logan stood up, "OK, Team one are going to stay here to plan. Amara you stay with them. Team two are going to go to the communications room, so we can start our reconnaissance. We'll meet in the War room before we leave at 8:30. Team one will take the Velocity, you can fly that right Jamie?"

   Jamie nodded, a huge grin plastered on his face.

   "Good, let's go Team two." Team two stood up and left to go to the communications room. Kitty hadn't been there yet, but she'd heard people talking about it. Lots of computers and phones, from what she'd heard anyway.

   Soon it was only Team one left in the room. Gambit cracked his knuckles and turned to Amara.

   "OK chère, what can you tell us about dis buildin'."

   "High security. ID badges, security cameras everywhere. About 20 guards are always on watch. Apart from that, it's a piece of cake."

   "Any suggestions?" Gambit asked Amara."

   "We light a fire." John automatically suggested. Gambit rolled his eyes and turned back to Amara, but John continued on.

   "No seriously mate; I'm not just saying that for the hell of it. Say if there was a fire in the building that happened to oh, say, cut the electricity. People would be going crazy."

   "Dat could work, where are de emergency escape routes Amara?" He asked Amara who began to scramble through her briefcase. She pulled out a map of the building, and a black marker.

   She began to draw thick black lines on the map, all leading into the car park out the front. "People have to avoid elevators, so these staircases—" she indicated staircases at the back of the house, "get fairly crowded. The Electricity box is here, just outside from the kitchen, next to the generator. Maybe you could make it look like a Kitchen fire. That way, the fire would destroy the electricity box and the generator pretty fast, and it's away from the Senator's main office, so nobody would be going there anytime. You'd be fairly safe with the electricity off."

   "Sounds good. Kitty an' I can do what we did de other day, in de danger room. Ya right with dat?"

   "Yep, I'll need to practice my hacking skills a bit though. It's been a while."

   "Can be arranged. I'll take you downstairs after we've finished here, and you can have a go with our computer systems. But no viruses." Kurt told her quietly from his seat.

   "So does this mean that I get to light a fire?" John asked eagerly. Kitty had begun to notice a trend in John's personality. Perfectly likeable when not talking about fire, then totally obsessed.

   Amara sighed, "Was there ever any question?"

   John glared at Amara. Amara glared back another thing Kitty had noticed about John was the he really didn't like Amara (she also noticed that the feeling was mutual), and that made no sense to Kitty at all. She could create the fire, he could control the fire. That was a match made in heaven if she'd ever seen one.

   "OK, break it up," Lance stepped in between them. He then turned to Gambit, "What am I gonna do while he's lighting his fire?"

   "Watch out fr' anyt'ing unexpected. We dun wan' anymore accidents." Gambit told Lance who nodded.

   "Anymore accidents? What's happened before?" Kitty asked curiously, looking from Gambit to Lance.

   "Miss Ororo died because she didn't have enough backup. She was overpowered, and had no one to help." Jamie said softly when no one else would answer Kitty.

   "Oh." Kitty fell silent, and looked down at her knees.

   Gambit continued on with planning, as if Kitty had never asked the question, and before she knew it, Amara was leaving and she was following Kurt down to the main computer stations.

***

   "Scott, tell my wife that I'll be home late tonight. I have a conference, and not to save me dinner." Senator McPherson said from his desk, not looking at his assistant, but at the letter he was drafting on his desk.

   "Yes sir, anything else before I go?" Scott Summers asked from the door, carrying a large stack of files.

   "Yes, come back when you've given those files to the intern. I have some personal errands I need you to run." The senator still did not look up from his desk.

   "Yes sir." Scott said before pushing the large oak doors open with his back. The heavy doors slammed shut behind him with a small bang, causing the Senator to jump slightly in his seat.

   He looked up at the doors, adjusted his reading glasses on his nose and smiled offhandedly.

   The phone nest to him began to ring shrilly. He waited for 3 rings until he realised it was his private line so the secretary didn't answer it and picked it up. 

   "Hello, Senator Mark McPherson here, how may I help you?"

   A gruff voice answered, "Mark, it's me, Bol."

   The Senator leaned back in his chair, removing the reading glasses and placing them on the desk. "Hello Bol, didn't expect a call from you at this hour.

   "Yeah well, I just wanted to confirm tonight's meeting with you. You're all set?"

   "Yes, I'll be there around 8:50, is that early enough for you?"

   "That's fine." Bol's rough voice said shortly. "How is our little test subject going?"

   "Scott? He's perfect! Obeys orders perfectly, no back talking, no questions, and a deadly weapon if need be."

   "Yes, we hoped you'd be happy with his services. He was one of the hardest to crack, but they all crack in the end don't they."

   The Senator laughed harshly. "Yes, they all crack."

   "Well if you're please with Scott, you just wait till tonight, more of where he came from."

   "I like the sound of that,"

   A voice came from outside his big oak doors, along with a soft knock. He covered the receiver with his hand and yelled to the door, "Just a minute"

   He uncovered it, "Listen I have to go, but I look forward to tonight."

   "As do I Mark," Bol agreed before the Senator hung up.

   "Come in," The door opened and the Polynesian intern walked in. Miss Aquilia, if he remembered right. And he was always right.

   "You're secretary went home sick just before, and she told me to bring you tomorrow's schedule and tell you that she wont be able to make it in tomorrow." She placed the manila folder on the corner of his desk and took a step back.

   "Thankyou Miss Aquilia."

***

Disclaimer: This is to acknowledge that I don't own any of the characters mentioned in this particular story. Even Senator McPherson is based on my old form room teacher (bloody tyrant) and I don't want to claim him as my own.   

A/N: Yeah… I'm posting this when I should be doing my homework and assignments. So No shout outs today. And no big comments. Good-o.                                                                                                                                                   


	9. Chapter 9

**_What we anticipate seldom occurs: but what we least expect generally happens. _**

****

**_Benjamin Disraeli  _**

****

**_*** _**

Kitty buckled herself into her seat in the Velocity, then watched as Pyro and Gambit did the same. Pyro seemed to be humming a soft tune as he fiddled with the buckle.

   "What're you humming?" She asked without thinking.

   "The Vegemite song," John answered nonchalantly as he adjusted his flame throwers.

   "The what song?"

   He looked up at her, his red bangs falling around his face, as they were held back by his bandana. "The Vegemite song." When she didn't respond he seemed to realise that she didn't understand.

   "You ever tried Vegemite?" Pyro asked, his eyes gleaming.

   Gambit, who was sitting on her other side said, "Pyro, dun go poisonin' the belle before the mission."

   Pyro glared at Gambit, "Just because you don't like vegemite, doesn't mean it's poison. I've eaten it all my life and I'm fine."

   "That's a matter of opinion." Smirked Gambit who had pulled out a fresh deck of cards, and began idly shuffling them.

   Pyro glared at Gambit again, just as Multiple began to lift the velocity out of its hanger. "Anyway, Vegemite is a sandwich spread that they only sell in Australia. Not many people like it much here; I just had the jingle in my head."

   Kitty nodded silently. Nightcrawler was sitting in the co-pilots seat, while Lance was sitting in the seat behind her, being broody.

   The helicopter was now speeding towards its destination, and in a few minutes, it was time for Nightcrawler to teleport herself and Gambit onto the roof, then Pyro and Avalanche outside the kitchen.

   Nightcrawler tapped her on the shoulder, "Are you sure you wanna do this, Remy could get in and out by himself if you want out."

  "No I'm fine, really"

   Nightcrawler smiled, showing his devilish fangs, "Ok, let's go," Gambit placed a hand on Nightcrawler's shoulder and suddenly they were on the roof of the building, just as planned. Nightcrawler teleported away instantly, and the Velocity sped away an instant later. That was an important point of the plan, if people noticed that a huge black helicopter was hovering over a building, they were bound to get suspicious.

   "Well, now we wait." Kitty said softly to Gambit who was scanning the roof. No one else was on here, and there were no helicopters, but it was a precautionary tactic. Gambit had a lot of those.

   "Yeah, we wait," He muttered offhandedly, as though he wasn't really listening at all.

   Kitty began to walk around the building, vaguely examining her surroundings, "So, what's the deal with you and Rogue?"

   She heard turn around to face her, so she looked back at him. It was hard to see his face in the dark, but his luminescent red eyes glowed like two freaky hovering lasers.

   "Nothin'," He said offhandedly.

   Kitty scoffed, "Now that's a lie Swamp rat." She called him by a nickname that she'd heard Rogue call him the other day. "You like her don't you."

   "I tink she be a belle fille,"

   "Yeah yeah whatever, I know you like her; otherwise you wouldn't be running around trying to touch the untouchable."

   "Maybe I'm just doin that to make her feel like she isn't untouchable."

   Kitty tilted her head, "Don't take offence to this, but you don't seem like the selfless type."

   Remy shrugged, "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. You make that decision."

   "Listen, I don't really care what you want to do with Rogue, but I don't wanna see her hurt. I know I haven't been back long, but she was my room mate before, so we were pretty close. And I will come and get you if I find out you have nothing but honourable intentions for her."

   The little red lasers turned off and on as he blinked at her. "The last thing I wanna do is hurt Rogue, petit "

   Kitty opened her mouth to answer him, but the building moving underneath their feet followed by a loud and large explosion was their signal.

   Gambit took a few steps closer to her, and held out his gloved hand. She took it and began to phase slowly through the floor.

***

   Rogue turned her head up, where she saw the faintest glimpse of the tip of Angel's wing in the clouds, before it disappeared as quickly as it came.

   ~_Good job Angel can't see a thing from down here~ She said through the Psychic link Jean had set up between her team._

   _~ Yo, there's a car pulling up on this side of the building,~ She heard Toads voice in her head._

   _~Yep, who's getting out of the car? ~ She asked back, sitting herself down on the edge of the pier. She had with her a tackle box and a fishing rod, and was disguised as a night fisherman. She wasn't the only one there, so she blended in well._

   _~ It looks like him, yeah; I'd recognise that snivelling face anywhere.~ Toad replied quickly._

   She picked a prawn out of her pocket and attacked it to the hook. She then cast the line in and stared at the motionless water in front of her. _~ Keep an eye on him. Jubes, what are you seeing?~_

_   ~I'm seeing some Vietnam war vets hopping out of a really old Volvo. Oh my god, that suit is one of the ugliest I've ever seen--~_

_   ~Jubilee, darlin' focus~ _Logan's voice interrupted her ramble on the state of the men's business suits.

   _~Right, sorry. As I said, two about 50ish, with bad fashion sense. Another girl, about your age Rogue, now I like what she's wearing…They're heading into the warehouse from my side~_

_   ~Good job Jubes ~ _Angel said from above. _~I see the car too… Really old Volvo too~_

_   ~Oh don't you start~ _Jean complained, _~My parents owned a Volvo,~_

_   ~Really? So did mine! Great cars!~ _Bobby entered into the conversation.

   _~Focus people, the topic is not Volvos~ Logan growled_

   A few sheepish sorry's came from several members of the group.

   _~The Senator is in the building~ Toad said in a very bad impression of Elvis._

   ~That's my cue then~ Rogue muttered and focused on Kurt and his ability to teleport. Once she had it, she imagined herself inside the warehouse sitting on one of the rafters.

   The next thing she knew, that's where she was. Directly below her were the men in bad suits, with the girl standing slightly behind them, hands behind her back, not really noticing anybody else there. And the Senator, with a brown-headed companion, who stood in the exact same posture as the girl.

   _~Toad, why didn't you tell me the Senator had a friend? ~_

_   ~I thought I did! ~_

_   ~Well you didn't, ~_

_   ~Jeez man, I'm sorry. Don't get your knickers in a knot~_

_   ~Shut up, they're talking. ~ _

_***_

   "Dun make a sound," Gambit whispered into her ear as they made their way down the pitch dark corridor. Though it was a bit hard to see why, as there were fire alarms sounding continuously. 

   Shadowcat had her hand on Gambit's shoulder, as he was the only one who could see that well in the dark. Soon they were at the end of the hallway. Gambit pressed himself up against the wall beside the door, so that if the door was to open, he would be out of site.

   Shadowcat herself slowly pushed herself through the door, and checked the room to make sure that no one was inside. Just as the expected, no one was.

   The laptop, which had been lying on the desk, open, let off a slight glow as it was working on its spare battery. She reached her hand through the door, and felt Gambit grab a hold of it. She then pulled him through. As soon as he was through, he walked over to the filing cabinets. He pulled on one, only to find it locked. Undeterred, he pulled a small black leather pouch from the pocket of his trench coat, pulled a small metal pick out, and began to work at the lock.

   Though she found what Gambit did fascinating, she managed to tear her eyes away from him and onto the computer.  It was already on, so that made her job a whole lot easier.

   _The Senator is getting lax with security I see She thought to herself as she opened up the search box. Her fingers began to type madly as she began searching and overriding at a mad pace. All the practise she had gotten in the computer room Kurt had shown her was proving useful._

   She opened up the Senator's employment files, just as she heard Remy let out a long hiss. She turned to look at him. He was holding a red folder as if it were gold.

   "Got everyt'in' we need here. Lets go," Gambit closed the filing cabinet, making sure to set them to auto lock on close.

   "Just wait a bit. I just want to have a look through here." She said quietly, not really noticing what she was saying as she typed and read at a superhuman speed.

   They employment list was quite long for and she was scanning it very quickly, however something caught her eye so she went back and reread it all. Name by Name.

   That was when she noticed it, after "Reid, Emily" was  "Summers, Scott."

   "Shadowcat, we have t' go, Pyro has t' get out of dere quick an' if ya don't hurry up, t'ings could get ugly." Gambit tapped her on the shoulder.

   She waved a hand at him dismissively, "Find me a floppy disk quickly."

   He pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to her. She grabbed it and slotted it into the drive. Then began saving all of "Summers, Scott"'s details onto the disk. "Ya were supposed t' bring one chère,"

   "Sorry, left it in my other uniform,"

   "Ya dun have another uniform."

   "Just shut up Remy, I've found something."

   "Well why din' ya say dat?"

   "I just did!" The file finished downloading, and she popped the disk out quickly. Gambit grabbed it and placed it back in the pocket of his coat. Then grabbed Kitty's hand as she ran back out through the door.

***

Disclaimer: If they belonged to me, I wouldn't be sitting here at my computer, making up little stories about these characters would I… Or maybe I would… All I know Is I'd be making a whole lot of money… something I'm strapped for these days.

A/N: Okies, there is a little bit of Romy-related-ness for all you rabid fans out there. Not big… but I figure it should make you review at least… even if it's to say, "that was totally stupid, why didn't they kiss or something?" and my answer to you lot is… bite me…

Yeah, thanks to all the reviewers, who I can't be bothered to name right now. But you are in my mind… Be happy with that… Sorry.. am in a very titchy mood right now… Dad being all mean and overbearing, how would you feel?


	10. Chapter 10

_Expect_**_ nothing. Live frugally on surprise. _**

**_Alice Walker_**

**_***_**

****

   _~ They're running a slave network. They torture mutants until they snap, then retrain them to be killing machines. Programmed to kill mutants and obey commands explicitly~ Rogue transferred the information she was hearing to Jean with a tinge of horror in her voice._

   _~That's horrible~ Jean thought back._

   _~ I know, the problem is, how are we going to catch the Senator funding them?~_

_   ~Monitor his assets? ~ _Logan suggested. _~We got the contacts to do it.~_

_   ~Yeah, we do, but it would be hard to organise~_

_   ~Listen, we'll talk about it after you're out. We _need_ all the info we can get from that conversation Rogue, focus~ _Logan commanded.

   _~ Yes sir~ She turned her attention back to the floor behind her, where the people were standing. The girl and the brown haired man standing behind the Senator were obviously products of the procedure. Throughout the entire discussion, they hadn't moved a muscle. It was unnatural._

   From what she had gathered, the boy standing behind the Senator was the Senator's first taste of what the called "Project Assassin". Apparently he was so pleased with it, that he had requested another prototype, this time a female with the ability to shoot small pieces of organic metal from her fingers.

   A large sum of money was handed over, and the girl went and stood next to the other man, behind the Senator. The senator turned to the two "Assassins" and gave the man an instruction she didn't quite catch. But it was obvious that he was instructed to leave, as almost instantly the man walked towards the door he had entered through, the girl following very closely.  

   The Senator watched them leave, and then headed towards the door that the other two men in the bad business suits had entered. The men also walked through.

   _~ Everyone's leaving. Two out your door Todd, neither the Senator, both victims of the "Project Assassin". Three leaving out your door Jubes, Senator is with their group.~_

_   ~Acknowledged~ _Jubilee replied, Toad saying the same thing seconds after. 

   _~Angel. Follow the Volvo, Rogue, you stay on the one with the Assassins~ Logan instructed._

   _~Wait,~ Jean said, stopping people in their tracks._ ~Multiple is saying they need backup~__

_  ~Always knew Gumbo couldn't do a god damn thing~ _Logan sniffed_._

_   ~__Logan__, what did Remy ever do to you?~ Rogue shot back angrily._

_   ~No, It's serious, they've been over powered.~ _Jean said worriedly, the fear carrying through the link, sending a chill down Rogue's spine, making her realise the significance of the situation.__

_   ~Ok, let's get there as quickly as possible then~ _She teleported away to on top of the building, and waited for Angel to come and lift her away. Jubilee and Toad were far enough away from the public eye that they could easily get to the blackbird without them or the jet being seen.

   It didn't take long before he swooped down and grabbed her underneath the arms, and carried her up into the freezing clouds. The Blackbird was hovering just above the clouds, out of site, about half a mile away.

   Angel flew towards the jet, and a panel on the roof slid away, so that Angel could land safely within the Jet. As soon as they were inside, the panel slid closed again, and the Jet started speeding towards the Senator's offices.

   Logan switched on the onboard communicator. Jamie's hurried voice came through instantly.

   "Guys, I've got to go in. Avalanche and Pyro were caught starting the distraction. Kurt had to go help, but he's exhausted himself from teleporting to much and too far. Shadowcat and Gambit have to go in and help get them out, but they have no way of getting back to the helicopter. You need to get here quick."

   "Did Kitty and Remy get the information?" Logan asked.

   "Yeah, from what I gathered, they also got some extra things that you'd be interested in. But they won't get the info back unless you hurry up and get here."

   "Understood. We should be about 10 minutes. Do you think you can hold out that long?"

   "I don't know, but hurry up just the same."

   The communicator switched off, and everyone in the Jet was silent, until Bobby spoke up.

   "What if we don't make it in time?"

   "We don't want to think about that. Gambit is a good leader, he'll keep everything under control. Everything will turn out fine." Rogue said determinedly, as to assure everyone that everything was going to be fine, however everyone heard the slight unease in her voice.

***

   "Oh dis is not good," Gambit mumbled as he felt the whole building rumble under his feet as if an earthquake had hit, followed by a loud explosion that he heard over the top of the fire alarms. He began walking in the direction of the kitchens, where they could hear the explosions coming from. 

   He clicked on his communicator, "Multiple, what de fuck is goin' on?" Kitty struggled to keep up with his fast pace, and eventually had to start lightly jogging to keep up.

   "Get over there now, they were noticed hiding in the bushes by some policemen. They're out numbered about twenty to one. There are a lot of very angry employees there." Multiple replied immediately. 

   "What happened to Kurt?" Gambit asked, now beginning to jog, then gathered his pace and began to sprint. Kitty sprinting right along behind him. 

   "He teleported to far in too little space of time. He collapsed, and he's on a stretcher recovering."

   "Merde," Gambit swore again. Kitty didn't know what that meant, but she got the general idea from his tone of voice. He clicked of his communicator and turned around to face her.

   "Let's go down." He said. He grabbed her hand and she pulled him downwards through the floor. As soon as they hit the floor again, the started sprinting again. This time, they could see the fire. Well, they could see the smoke. And the saying "Where there's smoke there's fire," was definitely true in this particular situation.

   The smoke became thicker as they headed into it, and Kitty coughed uncontrollable as she inhaled a lungful. She ducked her head down lower, where more fresh air was, and continued running stooped over. Gambit was doing the same next to her, but she could see the fire right up ahead.

   "This is going to be really hot," She yelled to him, as she grabbed his hand again. He yelled back a reply, but she didn't hear it as they ran through the fire.

   To be honest, she wasn't really sure if that would work. She'd never done it before, and was counting on the fact that she would still be able to phase through it. She was right. She could phase, but it was extremely hot. Almost unbearable. Occasionally they would run through a piece of fallen wood, or a chair. She could feel the difference in the density. But that didn't bother her. It was the lack of Oxygen that would be her and Remy's demise. Fortunately, just as she was beginning to feel light-headed, a rush of relatively fresh air hit her, and she realised they were outside, where a different type of fire was raging.

   She could see Avalanche struggling to stay out of range of the fifteen odd security guards, policemen and angry employees that were after him. He looked ragged. His uniform (a fully leather outfit, with a gold X on the front) was torn to shreds. His face had many cuts, and he looked like he was about to collapse.

   Pyro, who was about fifty yards away from Avalanche didn't look like he was faring much better. His uniform with the fire pack looked broken. And he was relying on the fire from the house to be his weapon, which was why he was standing dangerously close to the quickly burning house. He had about ten guards shooting at him from a distance, plus a fireman was aiming their hose at him, gushing water onto him at an alarming rate, in an attempt to put out the fire around him. He looked like he was struggling to stand up under the enormous pressure the water was putting on him.

   Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gambit head off in Avalanche's direction, so she ran towards the Fireman with the hose. She wasn't noticed by any of the attackers so she crept around behind them, and grabbed the thick hose, and phased her hand through it, successfully splitting it in half, and immediately cutting off the water supply. The ground around her began to flood, so she ran away, careful not to slip in the mud.

   She then worked her way over to the police officers who were, hiding behind the doors of their cars, and firing occasionally.  There were about four cars. The closest one was about 5 meters away, so she crept up behind the two men who were using the passenger side door for protection. Before they knew it, she had disabled their guns, by splitting them in half, then she used a quick roundhouse kick as they turned around, which hit them both in the head on the way around, and knocked them unconscious. For someone very small, she could pack a mean punch… well kick. And she thanked Logan everyday for those mean Danger room lessons she had been getting.

   She dived through the car, and landed in a roll on the other side. The two police officers on this side had heard the commotion, and began firing at her as soon as she hit the ground, but not one of the bullets hit her as she phased through every one of them. As soon as they had run out of bullets, she did a high kick and kicked the revolver out of the first guard's hand. He dropped it, then as he lunged at her, she phased, causing him to land hard on the ground. He groaned as the nausea of going through someone rolled over him. The second guard dropped his gun at the shock of seeing his partner jump right through her, and before he knew it, a quick punch to the stomach had him rolling on the ground, winded.

   She turned to the next car, and was just about to make a break for it, until she heard a cry of pain come from Pyro's direction. She turned in time to see him fall to the ground. She watched on of the officers volt over his car door and head towards where Pyro was lying, and she knew she had to get there before him. She sprinted as fast as she could towards Pyro, the flames around him becoming larger and more dangerous the closer she got.

   She got there about 2 seconds before the security guard, and that was just in time. He turned the gun on her, as she was standing over Pyro, who had his hand clutched to his stomach, in an attempt to stop the blood flow. He fired one shot which didn't hit its target before he felt the gun kicked out of his hand and up into the air, and a sharp pain between his legs. Kitty caught the gun and immediately aimed it at the guard closest to her, but not the one on the ground and pulled the trigger.

   She hit her target, and she watched as the glass of the car door shattered, and one of the police officers fell to the ground, with a shoulder bleeding profusely. She looked at the next one, took aim and fired. Again, another hit. This time it was a foot that was sticking out underneath the door.

   She fired until she had no bullets left. Then she turned and looked at Pyro. His red hair was wet and plastered on his face, which was death white. His eyes were wide open in shock, and the blood from the gunshot wound was pouring over his hands.

   She heard a bullet whiz by her ear, and she grabbed Pyro's hand and turned herself and Pyro intangible, so that the bullets could do no more damage.

   "John," She called him by his real name. He blinked and turned his head so that he could see her. "John it's me, I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?"

   His eyes went unfocused for a while, and his mouth moved up and down, a squeaking sound coming from his lips, as he tried to say something, but nothing came out. The effort made him cough harshly, and he winced.

   "Don't talk, I'm gonna get you out of here I promise," Kitty squeezed the hand she held, and she felt him squeeze it gently back. She gently moved the hand that was still over the wound away, and saw where the bullet had entered. The hole wasn't big, but it was still bleeding a lot. 

   "I'm gonna remove the bullet ok?" She whispered to him as she felt a small tear fall down her cheek, "It won't hurt, only feel weird."

   He blinked and began to try and say something, this time she heard her name "Kitty,"

   The tears multiplied as she plunged her hand into his stomach. She tried not to retch as she felt the metal and grabbed it out. Pyro jolted as the bullet left his body, and Kitty immediately wondered if it was a good idea to remove it, but it was too late now. It wasn't like she could stick it back in the wound and hope that it all fixed itself.

   She grabbed his hand and placed it back on the wound as she heard footsteps running towards her. It was more of the officers. Heaps more. It looked like the backup had arrived. Gambit and Avalanche were too busy with the people they were dealing with, so it looked like it was only her. 

   She prepared herself for them, as many started shooting at her. None of them hit their target, but once they physically reached her, she was going to have problems.

   The first ones reached her, and began to try immobilise her, however they found that every time they grabbed her arm, or made contact with any part of her body, it was instantly out of their grip. 

   However Kitty knew she couldn't do this forever and John needed serious medical attention. Quickly. She struggled to find an answer to her problem, when an invisible force blew half of the officers away. Three huge metal balls flew from the sky and landed on the ground in front of her. The first one opened and out stepped Magneto, who flicked his wrist and the other 2 balls opened. From the first stepped a tall Asian with purple hair. And from the other stepped Storm. 

***

Disclaimer: I don't own them unfortunately. Those damned people at Warner Brothers own these guys, I'm just using them to do my dirty work.

A/N: There. Well, Sorry to leave you on a cliff hanger, and sorry for updating so late, but I've had lots of school work lately, and the chapter woulda been too long If I hadn't stopped it here. Don't worry; the next chapter should be out by Wednesday at the latest!! Thanks to all the people who reviewed, I promise I'll do shout outs next chapter… 


	11. Chapter 11

**_We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence. _**

**_Joseph Roux_**

***

 The Purple haired Asian jumped high up into the air, did a funny twist, and landed perfectly balanced next to Kitty. Storm however raised her hands, and summoned the winds to support her weight so she could fly. She too landed next to Kitty, but on her other side.

   "Hi, I'm Betsy, but you can call me Psylocke," The Asian said in a cheerful British accent, as a bright purple blade appeared in her hands.

   "Hi," Kitty said numbly, as she stared at Storm, who everyone thought was dead.

   She opened her mouth to say something to her, but Storm cut her off before she started.

   "I'm not Storm, so shut your mouth. You'll catch flies." Her voice was Storm's, but the hint of African accent was gone, and replaced by a harsh sarcastic version of the real thing. It was disturbing.

    "Who—" she began.

   "I'm Malice, and concentrate on the damn battle," She snapped at her angrily.

   Betsy threw the purple blade at the closest four police officers who all collapsed after it hit them. 'Malice' rose up into the air, and lightening began to flash about the sky, occasionally striking a person or three.

   Kitty didn't know what to do. Psylocke and 'Malice' had everything under control, and from what she could see, Magneto was helping Gambit and Avalanche out. She turned to Pyro, who now looked (if possible) paler than he had before.

   She knelt down at Pyro's side again, and grabbed his hand. He looked like he was about to fall asleep. And instinct told her, that was the worst thing she could let him do. So she slapped him gently on the cheeks. "John, don't you go to sleep on me."

   He turned to look at her again, and opened his mouth to speak. It worked, though she had to move her head closer to his to hear him, she caught every word he said.

   "Kitty, tell my mum, that I love her, and…" he choked on his words, and took in a harsh breath, "It hurts Kitty. It hurts,"

   Kitty began to cry silently again. "I know it hurts, but we're going to get you back to the base, where chase will heal you. And you'll be able to tell your mum you love her all by yourself."

   He shook his head. "No, I wont, please. Promise you'll tell her."

   "Stop talking like that John. You're scaring me." Her voice cracked.

   "Promise," he insisted, his voice shuddering.

  She looked up, and saw Gambit running towards her. Magneto was standing in the background watching the fight that Psylocke and Storm were winning. She then looked back at Pyro, whose eyes were pleading with her.

   "OK, I promise. But you won't die." She said finally, just before Gambit skidded to a halt next to them.

   "Merde," He said for the second time that night as he looked at Pyro. "John what have ya gone and dun t' yo'self now?"

   Pyro let out a hacking noise that could have been deciphered as a laugh, but Kitty couldn't tell.

   Gambit bet down and lifted Pyro up, and hung one of his arms around his shoulders. Kitty moved to the other side, and draped the other arm over her shoulder. They began to carry him. Kitty didn't know exactly where they were going until the Black Bird landed between them and Magneto. The doors opened, and Rogue and Jean exited first.

   As soon as Jean saw the supporting Pyro she used her telekinesis to lift him quickly into the jet, where there were stretchers and medical gear.

   Kitty watched him float steadily into the Black Bird. She trusted that Jean would make sure he got the medical attention he definitely needed. Rogue ran over to them.

   "Where is Avalanche?" Rogue asked Gambit softly.

   "He's restin' over dere. He was pretty beat up. We weren't goin' t' win 'til Mags came. Where did dey come from anyway?" He replied, as he watched Psylocke and 'Malice' finish off the last of the police.

   "They just showed up." Kitty interjected.

   Rogue turned to look at the two fighting women. Her mouth dropped, "Storm… but how?"

   A deep voice interrupted their conversation. It was Magneto, "I believe that is a question that can be answered, along with the many others I'm sure you all have, once we get back to your base. I believe a few of your team members need immediate medical attention."

   Rogue nodded and gestured for Gambit and Kitty to accompany her into the Jet.

   "I'll get Lance, you go rest." She said softly. Gambit and Kitty nodded and made their way slowly over to the jet.

***

   No matter how hard she tried, Kitty couldn't get herself to sleep. She knew she was exhausted, but even that didn't encourage her to hit the sack. She knew why she couldn't too. Pyro. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she knew he was OK. He was going to be OK. That's why she was waiting in the Med-bay main room, staring at the door, Chase had taken Pyro through. 

   She wasn't alone in the med bay. Gambit was in the bed next to her, and Lance and Kurt on the two beds across the room. They were both sound asleep, but Remy seemed to be having the same problem as her. He was sitting up in his bed, and was playing Solitaire with a spare deck of cards. 

   For some reason, she was still holding the bullet she had pulled out of Pyro's stomach. It was small and silver, and to her surprise, didn't have any blood on it. It occurred to her that because she had phased it out, it wouldn't have blood on it, but she still continued to stare at it anyway.

   "You OK?" Gambit asked suddenly, looking up from his game, and over at her.

   She tore her gaze from the bullet and looked at Gambit. She didn't trust herself to speak, so she just shook her head.

   "You worried 'bout John?"

   She nodded softly, a small tear streaked down her face again. 

   "Yeah, so am I. Me and him, we've always bin good Amis you know?" He said picking up a card between his fingers and twirled it. "Out of everyone here, I've known him de longest. He knew me best. Cept maybe Rogue, but den she knows everybody dun she. One touch: instant biography."

   Kitty giggled a bit. She couldn't help herself.

   Gambit opened his mouth to continue, but the door to the operating room opened and Chase stepped out, pulling gloves off his hands.

   Kitty finally found her voice, "How is he? Is he going to be alright?"

   Chase sighed, "The bullet hit his only kidney. He was only born with one. I tried to patch it up, and I've put him on the dialysis machine.The next 48 hours are crucial. If he makes it through that, he has a good chance of survival. But we'll just have to see."

   Kitty nodded. "What about your healing abilities? Can't you heal him and make it better?"

   He shook his head. "My healing abilities don't work like that. I can only Bone damage and abrasions."

   "Can we go in an' see him Mon ami?" Gambit asked.

   "Yeah, but he's asleep. Be real quiet." Chase said rubbing his head. "Then come straight back and rest. Or I'll be on your ass about it"

   Gambit nodded, and pulled away his sheets. He hopped off the bed and gestured for Kitty to do the same. She did and they walked through into the operating room, where Pyro was still attached to all of the life support equipment. An oxygen mask was attached to his face, and a beep was emitting from the heart monitor machine about every second, as Pyro's heart continued to beat. Slowly, but never-the-less, still beating. In his wrist was a small drip which was attached to a bag full of blood.

   Kitty reached out and brushed a stray lock of his red hair out of his face. His skin was warm to the touch. It brought her some relief, but it didn't settle the unease in her stomach. 

   She turned to look at Gambit. He was looking at Pyro too and had an unreadable look on his face.

   "Do you think he'll die?" She asked softly, as if voicing her concerns would help her feel better. Gambit tore his gaze away from Pyro to look at her. He blinked at her question, as though fully taking it in, and then looked back at the sleeping Pyro.

   "Honestly? I dun know Kitty. I dun know." Gambit said in the same soft tone she had used.

   They spent about an hour with Pyro, until Chase came back in and shooed them back into bed. 

   Kitty didn't realise it, but she must've fallen asleep, because when she awoke, she awoke to a long solid beeping sound, coming from the room next to her, and she knew the inevitable had happened. It took a few seconds for it to hit her, but when it did; she grabbed her pillow and hugged it hard, crying uncontrollably into it. 

***

Disclaimer: You know I don't own them, so why do you even ask me?

A/N: OK, I cried then. That was so hard for me to write. It was also incredibly corny… or I think that it is. And I know I'll get flames, but trust me, it all has a purpose… but feel free to be flaming me. I know I deserve it. I also know that I promised shoutouts, so here they are.

**Rogue151 **Yeah… Betsy is pretty cool, and I have plans. So look forward to seeing more of Storm… or Malice… or whoever she is in future instalments of From Past to Future

**ishandahalfYeah, Espionage… or however you spell it. Don't fully even know what that ism, but you sorta sound like you know what you're doing. So I'll trust you on that one. And I'll try and be quick like a bunny on crack with the next chapter, but I like to have at least one chapter already written before I post another one. (I've already written chapter 12 and 13.) but I'm having a bit of that dammed Writers block.**

**UnknownSource**** Actually I was thinking about making it a Kitty/John romance when I first started writing it. But I realised that if I did that, It'd show what a failure I am at writing Romance and fluffy stuff… I'll stick to the horrible action and mean stuff…**

**Yumiko** I'll try and update sooner next time. Promise

**DoWriter12** Yeah, Cliffhangers. Gotta love 'em.

**xxxroxiexxxooo!! I'm super cool!! I like the sound of that!**

**Random Reader** Hehe… I always knew that there were silent readers out there. Usually I am one myself. If only they would all reveal themselves in reviews. They'd make me feel so much better, and update much faster.

**The Son Of Logan And Ororo **Ahh… It actually took me a while to figure out who you were going on about for a few seconds. Mum? Dad? But then I figured it out by looking at your profile, and your name. You had a couple of pretty good theories. Some were close. Keep reading.

**A REALLY hyper gal** Yes, I see you live up to your name very much. Thanks.

**bloody_lady I don't really like cliffhangers very much at all actually. It's just that that chapter was originally going to be t the whole fight scene. But it was too long.**

**Arekanderu**** Finally!! Someone says they likes the quotes idea!! It takes me ages to find little suitable quotes. And the whole story was influenced by a quote. "History is made by those who hang heroes" I know that doesn't really relate. But my mind works in freakishly strange ways.**

Yep! That's everyone who reviewed chapter 10. If you reviewed another chapter, I'm sorry for missing you. You'll have to review more to make sure you get noticed! Well then. Will leave you to review!

Cheers

~GELD~


	12. Chapter 12

**_The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead.  _**

**_Albert Einstein_**

****

**_***_**

For something that once was such a lively place, the mansion was grim and dark. It was two days after Kitty was found crying into her pillow, and it was discovered that John had died in the middle of the night. 

   Everyone had their own form of mourning. For Kitty, it was to cry. For Logan it was to spend as much time in the danger room as inhumanely possible. For Rogue, and Remy, it was to avoid contact with anybody. But everyone turned up to the mock funeral they had.

   Since his parents were arriving later that day to escort his body back to Australia, Jean and Kitty organised a small service to be performed in the grounds of the garden. So that's where they were. In a small nook of the Garden, with the Coffin, which Jean had floated outside, sitting on a small stone bench that was surrounded by Ivy. A small photo of John was sitting on top, next to his trusty lighter. 

   Everybody turned up, even, to everybody's shock, Magneto, Psylocke and Malice/Storm, who had been milling around the mansion for a few days, while everybody else sulked in their misery.

   Once everybody was there, Jean (who was now off her crutches) began the service.

   "We're all here, because of the death of a loved one. St. John 'Pyro' Allerdyce was a character if there ever was one. A nice 'bloke' as he so preferred to call himself, and a good friend. He died for what he believed in, and won't be forgotten for what he did." She looked to the small crowd, "Does any body have anything they wish to say?"

   Gambit stepped forward. "I would," He said softly. "Pyro and I were brought toget'er as total strangers, so we'd work as a team," He said with an irreverent glance at Magneto, who was looming over everyone at the back of the group, with his two newest team members standing on either side of him. "But we turned out t' be much more dan dat. Sure I t'ought he was a bit strange when I first met him, an' it took a while for me t' figure out what he was sayin', but once I got t' know him, I knew I'd made a true friend. An' he has been. He was always loyal, always looking out t' make a new friend. I won't ever forget him. An' I dun t'ink anyone else here will f'get him eit'er," 

   "Thanks Remy," Jean took over again. "Now, if you'll join me in a moments silence in remembrance of Pyro." Everyone bowed their heads in silence and courtesy.

   Kitty looked up at the other members of the crowd. She wasn't the only one crying. Jean had a few tears dripping down her cheeks, and Lance's eyes looked glazed. Rogue wasn't crying, but she looked like she was holding in tears. She was standing next to Remy, and as usual, he had that unreadable look on his face. She didn't notice it straight away, but Remy was holding Rogue's gloved hand in his. It caused her to smile, even if it was only for a minute.

   She turned to the strangers in their group. Magneto and his two companions. The one with the familiar face but the very alien voice, and the British-Asian, psychic ninja, with the interesting hairdo. They were still around as Magneto hadn't had a chance to explain what he had been doing all these years, as everyone had been preoccupied with their grief. Which Magneto had _surprisingly_ respected. Kitty had seen them around the grounds over the past few days, but she had neatly avoided them.

   Jean raised her head. "I'd like to thank you all for coming. This afternoon, his parents will be dropping around to collect the body to take him back to Australia to be cremated. If anyone wishes to pay their respects to them, I'm sure they won't mind."

   After that, everyone dispersed slowly, until eventually the only people still standing in front of the coffin was Kitty and Magneto, who had a thoughtful look on his face, as he stared at the coffin.

   Suddenly he looked up at Kitty. He hadn't seemed to notice that she was still standing there. "So Miss Pryde, still alive after what you went through. I'm impressed. You did better than others, from what I hear."

   "What do you mean?" Kitty said warily.

   "The containment facility that you were held in these past 4 years—Congratulations on making your way out of there." Magneto rephrased it.

   "You knew we were in there?" Kitty asked dubiously.

   "Not until just recently. My partners and I were planning the facilities liberation, but you beat us to it." He said haughtily. Kitty glared at him.

   "We didn't beat anyone to anything. We got out and that's all that matters."

   Magneto looked at her with the same thoughtful look he had had on his face just before. "My dear Kitty, you don't know what that facility was established for do you?"

   "To contain mutants." Kitty said instantly then added, "Also, to make our lives living hell."

   Magneto shook his head, "No, no, no, my dear. You think you know everything, but in reality you know nothing at all… Just like a typical teenager. The only reason you were kept like that was because they were hoping you'd become useful."

   "What do you mean useful?" She spat back.

   "Useful. Whether you can perform a job that they wish to be done, and whether you can do it well. That is useful. It just turns out you were one of the lucky ones that weren't so useful."

   "Lucky? You think I was lucky?" Kitty laughed, "You have no idea—"

   Magneto cut her off. "My dear, if anybody has any idea of what you went through in that place, it is me. Or have you forgotten about when Charles told you about my little trip to a little place called Birkenau.*"

   Kitty fell silent. She had forgotten that he was a victim of the Holocaust.

   "Yes, now you understand don't you," Magneto nodded and took a few steps closer to her, so he was standing directly opposite her. "You are lucky because you did not have to go through the same treatment as your friend Scott Summers did, and Miss Munroe."

   "But Scott was never with us in that place."

   "No, I'm sorry Miss Pryde, but yet again you are wrong," Magneto shook his head. "He was captured with you on that day. In fact, if my research is correct, he was with you a full week before he was taken away. But then you were unconscious the whole time."

   "I remember waking up in the back of a truck, with Jean, Evan and Mr McCoy. That's it. Scott was never with us."

   Magneto rolled his eyes. It was slightly weird, and intimidating, to see such a imposing figure, do such a childish act. "Will you stop and think for one minute that maybe there are other people who know more than you do." Magneto tilted his head, as though remembering something, "That's one thing I never understood about Charles, his patience with children. They are always so full of cheek and disrespect. I never had the patience for them."

    Kitty glared at him, she suddenly felt a huge rush of sympathy for Wanda and Pietro, having to put up with a father like that. It also explained why he decided to lock his daughter up in a mental asylum. "Well if he was with us, how come I never saw him?"

   "Because my dear, the place that you remember being taken to, was not the first place you went. You went to a sorting facility, not far from your school, where they decided which mutants were useful and who were not. The people who were running that place decided that he was useful. Haven't you understood that point yet?"

   "No, explain it." Kitty said impatiently glaring once again, at the silvery-haired mutant.

   "You found Scott Summers under the employ of the Senator correct?"

   "Yes, but—"She didn't get to finish the sentence, as Magnet cut her off.

   "And do you know what Rogue and her team found out about a certain 'Project Assassin', when they went out on that mission?"

   "Yes, but—"

   Magneto cut her off yet again, "Well, you are a smart girl. Put two and two together." He said finally, looking at her, with the same thoughtful look on his face. He asked a final question. "Would the Scott Summers you know ever work for Senator McPherson?"

   Kitty's head was reeling with all the information that Magneto had spoon-fed her. She finally managed to form a sentence. "So you're saying that Scott was captured along with us, and put into their 'Project Assassin' program, then sent to work for Senator McPherson?"

   "That's exactly what I'm saying," Magneto nodded. "Seems as though you _are almost as smart as you look."_

   "How do you know so much about this?" Kitty asked, "And how does Storm come into the picture?"

   "Well, have you noticed Storm's personality change?" She nodded, so he continued. "After that particular fight, where Ororo was captured, she was placed in the Project Assassin program, along with another Mutant by the name of Malice. I found out about this particular centre, so I investigated and eventually freed Storm and Malice. However, Storm's mind was far too broken to work with, and Malice's host body wasn't going to live much longer. So they combined together."

   "How is that even possible?" Kitty wondered out loud.

   "Malice has the unique ability to totally control a person's body, by inhabiting their mind. When she was 11, she was in a car accident, and her body died. That triggered her mutation, and her mind began to hover above the operating room. She eventually possessed one of the hospital staff's mind's and lived like that for a while. She's been mind hopping ever since, so to speak. Ororo is the perfect host for her at the present time."

   "Oh,"

   "Yes, now it was lovely talking to you, but I have a prior engagement."

  Kitty nodded and began to watch him walk off. He paused and looked back at her his very soft blue eyes glinting back at her, revealing his human side. "By the way Kitty, I want to congratulate you on fighting off 20 or so guards without a weapon the other day. I think they underestimated your abilities when they were deciding who was 'useful' and who was not."

   He continued to walk away, leaving a very confused Kitty behind.

***

   The Senator looked at the smoky-ruins of his private offices. Or what was left of them. His two personal assistants standing slightly behind him were both dully gazing at the ruins, and no wonder. The building was half burnt down, and the rest of it had extreme smoke damage. It would need to be fully demolished. The fire department had already classed it as unsafe, so there was no hope in fixing it. They had also determined that the fire had started because of an electrical fault in the kitchen's microwave, and it had spread quickly to the generator, which had blown up, causing most of the demolition he saw here. However according to security, and 50 dead bodies, it looked as though it was arson. They believed that a Mutant with pyrokinetic abilities and a mutant who could create earthquakes, assisted by a girl who could dodge bullets, and a mutant who could blow things up, were the culprits. They were also positive that they had stolen something, but because of the fire damage, they had no way of determining what had been taken.

   "Scott, Emily, I want you to find out who did this, and take them down," The Senator yelled, turning around to face the two assistants. They didn't flinch or back away at all. They stood perfectly still, not even blinking.

   "Yes sir," They both said simultaneously, then still in perfect time, they turned around, and walked off towards the black car, where Scott hopped in the driver's seat and Emily took her seat on the passenger's side. The Senator watched them drive off, and then turned back to the ruins. This would be publicised, he would see to it. Then those mutant scum would be shown for what they really were. Monsters.

***

* Birkenau was a Death camp for Jews in Nazi Germany. In the X-men movie, that's the place that Child-Magneto and his parents were taken to. And where his parents were (I presume) gassed. If you don't believe me, go do some research. It's worth it.

Disclaimer: I dun own them. That's all you need to know.

A/N: Yeah well… dun have many comments, only that I shouldn't be doing this. I should be doing my Science/Drama/Maths assignments… I only have one week to do all three in… *grumbles*

Rogue151 – Glad you didn't think it was corny… I'll try and update sooner, but I have to write them first see…

Caliente – Glad I made you like Pyro, and I'm sorry I killed him off. But it's all for the greater good…

Danfred – Nope, no good reason… just a sick morbid fascination with death… ;) 

ishandahalf – I promise no one else will die… for as few chapters at least…

Yumiko – An Update!! See!!

Random Reader -  Well… I hope the explanation in this chapter helped you understand it all a bit better… and I'm happy that you like Betsy. I like her too!!

Pyro-luv – Sorry… and thanks… and again… sorry…

Bloody_lady – Kitty/Pyro… well we can't have that anymore now can we. Considering one of the main people in that particular pairing is visiting St Peter as we speak. Yeah, but when I was writing it, I considered turning it into a Kyro, but never got around to it. Plus I can't write romance to save my butt…

ZenZen – People have to suffer because you don't post… that's why. It's all your fault. And his death is going to weigh on your shoulders until you post again… POST!! And I'm semi over my writers block. I've started chapter 14. Started… haven't finished…:P

DoWriter12 – Ahh… yes… Pietro… hmm… I'd almost forgotten about him. Thanks for reminding me…

Yep, so… If we make it to 100 reviews, I think I'll post earlier!! I've been sticking to the once a week thing, but I'd be willing to alter my pattern for the sake of 100… so… GO!!


	13. Chapter 13

**_The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be... The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists. _**

****

**_Martin Luther King, Jr._**

***

   "So… we've waited long enough Eric," Rogue said calmly and coolly, Logan standing behind her, glaring at the old mutant, and his companions, who were both sitting by his side, looking equally calm, back at the wolf-like man.

   "Rogue, my dear, Haven't you heard of the saying, 'Patience is a virtue'?" Eric said leaning back in the chair he was seated in.

   "I ain't never claimed to be virtuous." She narrowed her eyes. As if on cue, Logan cracked his knuckles menacingly. Rogue leaned forward in her seat, as though to counter Eric's own action. "Plus, we don't have time for any distractions, from what we've found about from the information we've gathered."

   Kitty was sitting at the other end of the table, next to Jean, and the empty seat, that used to belong to Pyro. She shook her head and glanced back at Magneto, to see his reaction.

   "Yes, you never were one to take time." Magneto mused; he smirked at Logan's behaviour. "Logan, standing there, cracking your knuckles is not going to scare me. Or have you forgotten that your bones are covered in a substance that I can manipulate without a second thought."

   Logan glared again, this time if possible, with even more menace. Kitty swore she could hear him growling, but she shook her head again, and the sound went away. "Very well… what do you wish to know?" Magneto's smirk disappeared as quickly as it came, only to be replaced by the same thoughtful face, he had had been wearing for a majority of his stay at the Complex.

   "Everything you know," Rogue said instantly.

   He laughed patronisingly at her. "My dear, you will need to be much more specific than that." 

   It was Rogue's turn to glare, "Fine, we want to know everything you know about the FOH, Senator McPherson's connections to the FOH, anything about this 'Project Assassin' and anything else we might find useful."

   "Anything you would find useful you say?" He tilted his head sideways, and looked at the purple haired mutant known as Psylocke. "Betsy? Tell them what you told me the other day."

   She smiled and nodded to her boss, then turned and looked at Rogue. "He's going to use the 'Project Assassin' to kill prominent humans, and blame it on mutants. It will be his main argument in the Mutant Registration debate next week." She explained in a cheerful British accent. Far too cheerful to work for Magneto, but then again, Pyro had also been in the employ of Magneto, and he didn't seem the type to work for the politically-extreme mutant either.

   Rogue nodded, "Yes we got that information when Kitty and Remy retrieved it from his offices. What we need, is a list of all the mutants and their abilities who have been enlisted in this program." She turned back to Magneto, "Kitty tells me that you liberated Storm from—"

   Malice cut her off angrily, daggers shooting out of the familiar eyes of the African woman. "The name is Malice; Stop calling me Storm, for god's sake. She doesn't exist anymore." 

   "Malice, they need time to adjust to the fact that you aren't Storm." Magneto chided heartily, a gleam of something Kitty didn't like in his eye, "Perhaps you could remove yourself from her body, to demonstrate what she really is." He turned and faced Kitty, looking directly at her. She stared back at him, determined not to look away. He continued on, without pausing. "That is, unless you all wish to be killed, or have you not realised that if Malice did not possess Storm's body, she would only be a robot who would kill you instantly because all she knows how to do now is to Kill mutants."

   Rogue muttered a soft apology under her breath, before continuing on, "Kitty tells me that you liberated Malice from the training centre. Would you happen to know where any other centres like this one would be, so that we could liberate them as well?"

   "There is one in Daytona, Florida. And a small one in Philadelphia. We've already destroyed the one in Westchester; it was where we," he nodded to Betsy, "found Malice."

   "Why was Malice not affected by their methods?" Jean asked softly, drawing Magneto's attention away from Kitty.

   "She has superior telepathic abilities. Alpha-Class. They didn't realise it at first, but it is almost impossible to crack the spirit of a telepath." Magneto explained to Jean, who nodded, and went back to her brooding silence. "That would explain why Jean was lucky enough to escape the program. I believe they wished to utilise her telekinetic abilities, but her telepathic abilities held too much of a problem to bother with her."

   "Have you got a list of mutants in these centres? And how far along they are in the program?" Logan said to Magneto, in a voice that sounded as though he was resisting the urge to yell.

   "Not a list, but we do know of a few mutants who are in the facilities. You know them too… Piotr Rasputin; Colossus. I believe the Russian government enlisted him for treatment a few months ago. Forge, Pietro.  He would not be advisable to release, unless you wish to give him a lobotomy. He has been there for the good part of 3 years. I believe they are training him for stealing information. I believe there are a few individuals there who were members of the Morlocks."

   "Where exactly are they?"

   "Do you mean the centres?"

   Rogue nodded.

   "They are located in old, seemingly run down apartment buildings. They are all identical. All are scheduled for demolition, but the respective councils cannot demolish them until all the red tape has been cleared.

   "Despite their shabby exterior, the interior is state-of-the-art technology and design. They've perfected the technique of the Power Dampener, however it is run on electricity ad is very to susceptible to EMP"

   "EMP?" Kurt asked.

   Logan answered before Magneto, "Electro Magnetic Pulse. Iron-man over there "He nodded his head in the direction of Magneto, "probably could create one by blowing a fuse box just outside the facility I suppose."

   Magneto turned and looked at Logan, "For an overgrown werewolf, you are smarter than you look."

   Logan growled once again, sounding, if possible, even more threatening than he usually did. Rogue put a calming gloved hand on his clenched fist, and he took in a deep breath.

   "I would blow the fuse box, and that would put the Power dampening shield out of order, and send the whole place into darkness. Then, Psylocke would find the mutants who have experienced the least amount of experience, and we would fetch them."

   "It's that easy?" Bobby asked incredulously

   "Nothing in Life is ever that easy Robert. There are armoured guards and enough weaponry to equip a small army. But it's all metal."

   "So, when are we going to release them?" Angel asked.

   "We can have the Blackbird ready to leave in 15 minutes." Rogue said calmly before she turned to Magneto and his company, "Will you be joining us on this particular mission?"

   Magneto nodded. "That is the only way that you shall get anything done. And only Psylocke and I know the precise location of the centres,"

   Everyone began to leave, but just before anyone left the Room, a question popped into Kitty's head so fast that she didn't even think before asking it. "What happened to all of the other mutants? What did you do to the ones that were too far down the treatment?"

   Magneto turned back to face her. Rogue stopped at the door and watched Magneto for his answer.

   He paused and looked at her with the thoughtful look she hated, "What do you think I did with them Katherine?" he asked her in a voice, barely louder than a whisper.

   She hadn't considered that, but now that she thought about it, his intention was clear in her mind. She sent him what she hoped was a disgusted look.

   He sat back down in the seat directly opposite to her, which Remy had just previously vacated, and looked her straight in the eye. "What would you have done my dear? Imagine 50 people all trying to kill you at once, and you knew you had the power to protect yourself from them. Don't pretend you are higher than me. You would have done the same in the circumstance. You _have_ done the same in the circumstance."

   Kitty stared straight back at him before a flash of the memory of a few nights ago crept into her mind. One of a Security guard falling lifelessly to the ground, with a bullet in the chest that had been shot from the gun she held in her hand.

   "Were you going to tell us about this Eric?" Rogue said calmly, her green-grey eyes icy.

   "You only said to inform you of the information you would find useful to your cause. I did just that" Magneto said coolly, looking away from Kitty and locking his steely gaze with Rogue.

   Logan growled, "You're playing us Bucket-Head," Magneto ignored him.

   "We said to tell us any information you had about the FOH and the Containment facilities." Rogue said keeping her voice level, but Kitty saw her fist clench and unclench gently. A mannerism Rogue tended to use when she was extremely pissed off.  

   "Yes… and I did so." 

   The fist clenched and unclenched again, this time a little harder, "You chose not to tell us that you had to murder 50 innocent mutants, so that you could get a few to survive?"

   "Well Rogue," He stood up and looked down at her. Because although he wasn't an extremely tall man, he could tower over her. "I would gladly let you absorb me, so that you would fully understand the situation we were in."

   He held out his wrinkled hand to her, and looked at Rogue. Rogue looked at his extended hand, and her still clenched hand relaxed. She stared it at a good 10 seconds before beginning to take her glove off.

   "What are you doing?" Logan asked her, grabbing her shoulder so she turned around and faced him.

   "I was given these powers for a reason. I might as well use them." She said dismissively, before she turned back to Magneto.

   "Concentrate on those particular memories." She instructed him. He nodded and she reached for his hand.

   Kitty watched with morbid fascination as Rogue took Magneto's hand in her own.  Magneto's face took on the 'stunned mullet' face, before he went limp, and was caught by Psylocke and Malice. 

   Rogue looked like she was in pain for a few seconds, her hand flew straight to her head, and Kitty felt all of the hairs on her head, that weren't fully pulled back with her scrunchy, stand on end. The few paperclips on the table flew across the room and attached themselves to Rogue. Then all of a sudden, Rogue's face relaxed and the paperclips fell to the floor with tiny clinking sounds.

   She turned to Kurt, who had been watching the scene from just near the doorway. "Could you please take Eric down to the Med Lab? Tell Chase he's fine, and he'll wake up in an hour or so."

   He nodded and Psylocke and Malice handed Magneto over to Kurt who teleported away instantly.

   "Logan, get ready to leave," Rogue said curtly, before pushing Bobby out of the doorway and storming out the door.

*** 

   The two mutants stepped out of the dark black car and looked up at the building. Or what was left of it. If you looked closely at the ruins, you could tell that it used to be a nice set of units. But due to the fire that had ravaged it, it was no longer liveable. The two mutants walked up to the front door, where the "To Be Demolished" sign was nailed to the doorway.

   The woman pointed at the sign, where it was covering the lock and a small shot sounded. The lock was shot through, but the sign was still barring the door. So the man stepped forward and took hold of the sign, and ripped it off the door with one wrench and dropped the sign unceremoniously on the ground.

   The door swung open, gently creaking at the same time. The woman walked inside, and the man soon followed.

   "Find the light switch Emily," The man commanded in a soft monotone voice.

   Though he could not see her nod because of his sunglasses he knew she was searching by the soft shuffling noises she was making. It wasn't long before a small click sounded and light filled the room.

   The room was bare and dusty, just as derelict as the outside. A broken chair was next to the door, spider webs connecting the three remaining legs. A panel of the roofing was missing right above their heads, and he could see the old lead pipes that ran through the building. 

   The only thing that wasn't old and dilapidated, and seemed as though it had been recently used, was the door that was at the other end of the room. Instead of looking that dull off-white dusty colour that the surrounding walls were, The door was clean and looked like it was frequently used. The once-gold handle had rubbed away, so that the only gold bit left was a tiny bit of the lock.

   Scott lifted his hands to his sunglasses and casually lifted them off his face, and looked at the door, which was blasted away instantly with the raw power of his optic blasts. After a second, he closed his eyes and replaced the glasses back on the bridge of his nose, and opened them again, to see the destruction he caused.

   The door was now gone, blown away. In fact, half of the hallway beyond it was missing. But that wasn't something that he was to concern himself with. He took the few steps to the door confidently and walked through as though he owned the place. He heard Emily follow him down the hallway, and into the room that was at the end.

   It was an old-style study. A huge big mahogany desk, filled most of the room, with a large leather business chair sitting behind it. The walls were covered in Bookcases that reached the ceiling, and were stocked full of books that ranged from textbooks, to instruction manuals, to hardcover classics.

   He watched as Emily walked over to the book-case wall on their left and reached up to grab Thomas Moore's 'Utopia'. She pulled it out, and a whirring sound filled the room. A vague awareness of watching a movie where this happened flashed through his head, but it didn't register. Or even if it did, he didn't react, even as the whole bookcase moved to the front and to the side, revealing a hidden room on the inside.  

   A man in a Blue and Brown uniform greeted them with a clipboard. He looked up, and began to speak, but before he finished his sentence a small hole appeared in his chest, and he collapsed.

   Emily lowered her hand and walked into the room. Scott followed, and a soon as they had walked only five steps into the now white-sterile environment a high pitched siren began to wail.

   Harsh synchronised footsteps began to echo from somewhere nearby, and soon enough, they were surrounded by soldiers; all armed with heavy artillery, in green and black camouflage uniforms. Several clicking sounds and their guns were trained at the two mutants who were standing there, not looking phased at all by the intimidating soldiers in front of them.

   "We wish to speak with Boliver Trask. Now." Scott said quietly and firmly. None of the soldiers moved.

   "We wish to speak to Boliver Trask. Now." He repeated, in the same soft tone.

   Once again, none of the soldiers moved.

   Emily raised both her hands, so that her fingers were spread out aiming in many directions.

   "We wish to speak to Boliver Trask. Now." Scott said once again. This time, his voice growing deeper.

   When no one reacted, he continued on. "Fine… If you won't bring him to us, we'll have to find him ourselves."

   Emily shot bullets from all 10 of her fingers. Several of them hitting soldiers on different parts of the body. The ones who weren't hit fired back at Emily, but Scott removed his sunglasses and destroyed anything that was heading in the direction of him and his partner. (And a few of the people who were sending them in their direction).

   Soon, there was only Scott and Emily left standing. Both relatively unscathed. Emily had a small burn on her finger, and Scott had been grazed by a stray bullet, but both seemed oblivious to any pain it caused them.

   The made their way past groaning bodies, not caring if they stepped on fingers or toes, and into the room that all the soldiers had entered from. It wasn't empty as they had thought it would be. Standing in the middle of the room was Boliver Trask. The man who has delivered Emily to her new owner just two days ago.

   "Emily Packton. Scott Summers. What are you doing here?" He asked authoritatively.

   "We need information on the two mutants who escaped two and a half weeks ago from this facility." Emily said calmly to the man in front of her.

   "And how would you know about that? That's top secret."

   "The Senator has his contacts." Scott replied curtly. "We need that information. If you don't give it to us, we'll find it ourselves."

   "Why do you want it?" Trask asked angrily, looking beyond the two mutants to the carnage they had left behind them.

   Scott answered in the all too familiar monotone voice. "The Senator's reasons do not concern you. And as your highest paying benefactor I suggest you do as he asks."

   His hand went up to the arm of his sunglasses, as though he was getting ready to remove them. Emily, who was standing right next to her, raised both her hands, and directed all of her fingers at the angry man before them.

   The angry man warily eyed his sunglasses, and quickly glanced at Emily whose face was emotionless, yet still seemed mighty dangerous. He came to a decision. "Alright. Follow me," He instructed, and the two mutants followed him down the hall.

***

Disclaimer: They don't Own me, I don't own them… it's a two way deal you see…

A/N: YAY!! 103 REVIEWS!! It only took 12 chapters… oh,  I'm so proud of you all!! I didn't think you'd do it, but you DID I'm so proud!! :D:D And for that, here is a chapter, as promised, at least two days earlier than usual! :D (And I know ZenZen will be tempted to murder me for posting just after she reviewed, but that's her problem ;) Sorry mate, that's life :P)

And just for that, here is some shout outs for the lovely people at the review board!!

**Freya**** ­– thankyou for helping to boost the total up to 100… Feel free to continue reviewing… it makes me feel special.**

**Rogue Pryde ­**– Hehehe… I think that's why I started writing the fic in the first place. Things aren't going to stay nice and peachy for them, and I mean, look what happened in the movie… (But this isn't movie based… not really)

**Danfred**– Yes, Oh yes… Definitely weird… But then, Who isn't?

**UnknownSource**– Thanks for saying I got Magneto right… I sorta based him on my dad, but changed the way he talked… My dad is very Yobbo-like… but still seems to make you feel small… And sorry about the Kitty thing, the way I see it, She's not thinking straight… You know with the death of a close friend and all that. You will find out more about Emily. But she is a character I made up… but she was based of another character I read in someone's fic.

**bloody_lady**– Nothing *ever* ends like that in *any of my fics… I'm just to morbid and sadistic… I don't do Romance very well… makes me feel icky… But they would've made a cute couple eh… hmm…. 

**funkygirl4723 **– Scott and Jean *will* be reunited, I promise. Scott might try to lop Jean's head off with his optic blasts, but they will be reunited. And Romy is pretty cool eh…

**ishandahalf** – Pyro got on my nerves… Actually I really liked him as a character, I wish I saw more fics around that tried to stretch out his character more… But his time was up in my world… And Magneto was a bit of a bastard wasn't he… But then he's always been a bastard… Oh well… what can you do?

**Suzaka** – I'm glad you like that line… I liked it too… It sorta explains why he's always so annoyed around the brotherhood… and Pietro an Wanda too…

**DoWriter12 – **Yep… I hope the whole Storm Malice thing was explained good… and you'll have to wait and see what Magneto does… though he's not doing much right now though is he…

**LewsTherinInsanity** – Thanks… I feel sad for Pyro and Kitty too… I cried when I killed him off… And Kitty… well everything seems to go wrong for her doesn't it… :S

And finally the ever-lovable **ZenZen** – Yes, lendiness will begin as of tomorrow… I'll bring em in, but if you in anyway damage them, I will rip your head off and feed you to my cat… And I'll send you chapter 14 when I've finished it… I have a feeling I'll get it done soon!!

Hehehe… well there we go!! Please review and I'll try and get chapter 14 finished as quickly as possible!


	14. Chapter 14

**_…While the beasts of prey, come from caverns deep, viewed the maid asleep…_**

**_William Blake_**

**_***_**

   Kitty hurried down the stairway after Bobby, trying to look like she wasn't following him. Although she had been here for almost two weeks now, she still didn't know her way around properly. The whole compound was huge, and she found it even more difficult to figure out where she was because all of the hallways and corridors looked alike. She'd had the same problem in the old Institute when she had first arrived. Eventually she had just decided that if she used her powers, (apart from giving her extra confidence with their usage) she would get everywhere much quicker and wouldn't have to worry about how to get from the first floor living room, to the third floor bathroom and then back down to the Library which was on the second floor. Everything was either up or down. You just needed to know where.

   It didn't take long, running down to the lower levels of the complex, maybe a minute. What did take the time was the preparation everyone had to go through for everybody to be ready to leave. 

   For Kitty there wasn't much, all she had to do was change into her uniform, which was chemically unbalanced in such a way that she could phase through everything and the uniform didn't stay behind. It also didn't rip very easily, which made it extra durable during high-contact danger room sessions. 

   She followed Jubilee through the door and into the girls' locker room. Rogue, herself, Jubilee and Jean where the only girls there. Amara was still working undercover, and to risk being seen in league with them would have been devastating.

   Quickly removing her normal civilian clothes and donning her uniform, she managed to watch Rogue, who she hadn't gotten to talk too much since the first time they had met outside the doctor's surgery. Right now she had a look of mixed emotions on her face, while she pulled her tight black uniform on.

   It was practically the same as her previous uniform. The one she had worn when she was a member of the X men. The green breast plate remained. And so did the boots, but the belt with the little golden X had gone, and had been replaced by a simple black belt. She had also removed the gloves from her ensemble.

   Her hair, although not much longer than it had been four years earlier, was now long enough, that she needed to tie it up, so it was tied in a small pony-tail at the base of her head. The white stripes framed her face, just slightly too short to fit in the hair tie with the rest of the hair.

   She was furiously latching her leather boots on, flicking the latches with such a force that the noise it made was piercing to Kitty's ears. Jean and Jubilee hadn't seemed to have noticed, as they ignorantly went on with their business.

   She remembered back to the time before the Institute had been raided; back to when Rogue and Kitty had shared (albeit reluctantly) a room. They were the only two members of the household who had to share a room, and it wasn't because there were no rooms to spare. The Professor had said it was because 'Rogue needs to become accustomed to living in close proximity to others. If she lives her life having to stand an arms distance away from people, she will gradually go insane.' Kitty had always taken this explanation without further question, and it had always helped her in forming a friendship with the girl.

   One particular night, after a small scuffle with the Brotherhood of Mutants, in which Rogue had absorbed both Lance and the Blob, Kitty had been woken by Rogue mumbling things in her sleep. Kitty had watched with morbid interest for a few seconds, how Rogue had tossed and jerked so violently in the bed, the covers quickly becoming twisted in her legs. And the way that she managed to mumble the strangest things all while sounding frightfully scared at the same time. 

   Eventually, Kitty moved to wake her up, but a minute before she reached her she jolted into a siting position. Fully awake, though she was a little bit disorientated. The Professor had obviously been woken by the dream his student had had, (and the next day it was discovered that Jean had also felt Rogue's distress) and had led her off into his office to calm her down, and *possibly* to help her sleep by blocking those memories from her head.

   That was the first time that Kitty had realised how disturbing it was for Rogue to actually absorb someone. When Rogue had first joined the Brotherhood, everyone was informed about her powers, "The ability to absorb a persons memories, personalities and in the case of mutants their powers." But until that very moment, she had never seen the affect that the memories had on her friend.

   Maybe that was what made Kitty watch Rogue so intently, while the other two just went on with their business. She was probably one of the only ones who knew what happened when Rogue absorbed a person. 

   "Are you alright?" Jean asked Rogue quietly. She stole a quick glance in Kitty's direction, sending a soft silent message_. I can tell that something is wrong too._

   Rogue continued furiously lacing up her boots, "I'm fine. Hurry up, we need to get going." She said shortly, avoiding eye contact with everybody in the room.

   Jean and Kitty shared yet another glance, this time it was Kitty who said something.

   "You can talk about it. We'll understand."

   Rogue turned around and glared at both Kitty and Jean. "Lay off, I don't want to talk about it." She then stood up, as she had finished with her boots, and left the room. The door banging shut behind her.

   Jubilee stared at the door that was still rocking slightly. "Well… that didn't go to plan did it?" She stood up, and brushed the front of her uniform which was the same as Kitty's old one, just yellow instead of purple, "Good try though."

   She flexed her fingers and continued out the door following Rogue.

   Kitty and Jean shared yet another glance and finished getting ready. They then walked out the door, and into the waiting room. Where most of the team members were waiting to be directed to their posts.

   Remy, Logan and Kurt were all there waiting, as well as Rogue and Jubilee. The other guys emerged from the guy's changing rooms. Warren came out last; Kitty reasoned that his uniform would be a bit more difficult to get changed into when you had huge angel wings with a span of over fifteen feet.

   Logan started hissing commands as soon as Warren was in the room. "Ok… whoever was with Gambit the other day goes with me. Everyone else, who was with Rogue, goes with Rogue again. Bobby, Sam you're with my team too. Kurt you go with Rogue. Everyone understand?" He waited a few seconds for people to ask questions then headed into the hanger, where the Black Bird II and the Velocity were held. 

   Everyone else followed silently, the people assigned to Logan walked towards the Blackbird, and everyone else towards the Velocity. Kitty followed Bobby again began to walk the gangplank that led up to the cockpit.

   After taking her seat in the 'bird and buckling her seatbelt, she watched Logan and Jamie work the controls of the plane. The gangplank went up; the various lights in the cabin lit and the engine turned on, sending a buzzing feeling through her toes. Logan took a hold of the joystick in front of him, and began to glide the plane upwards. It rose a few feet off the ground, the jolted and hovered back down.

   Logan frowned, flicked a little switch and tried again. The same thing happened, with the plane eventually hovering back down to the ground. He clicked on the radio to the others in the Velocity.

   "Rogue, can you see if anything is holding us down, we can't get off the ground," He said shortly.

   A soft buzzing noise continued for a few seconds then Rogue's voice came off through the speakers, "I can't see anything—". She was cut off by a voice that sounded softly through everybody's head.

   _You will not get off the ground until you let both Malice and I onboard each of your aircrafts. Psylocke's short British voice said curtly._

   Logan pressed a button and the gangplank was let down again. He got angrily out of his seat and stormed down the walkway, flipping out his claws when he reached the bottom.

   Kitty and Gambit both hopped out of their seats instantly, following him as quickly as they could. They arrived in time to see the automatic door open to reveal Psylocke and Malice, dressed in their full combat gear, walking confidently towards them.

   "Let us off the ground, or you'll have me to answer to," Logan growled menacingly at Psylocke who looked unconcerned.

   She smiled softly, "No, you've heard our request. That's all we ask." She didn't seem at all intimidated by Logan.

   Logan growled again, he took a step forward and froze; a soft purple light surrounding him. He struggled in the spot, his whole body quivering against an invisible force. Kitty was ready to bet that Psylocke had something to do with it. Her theory was proven when Psylocke spoke next.

   "You can struggle all you like Logan, but it won't do you any good." she said it so lightly, it was as though it didn't take much thought at all. "My power depends on my will, and you're strength depends on your physical boundaries. I will _always _win against you Wolverine."

   "Why do you want to come with us?" Logan managed to say, though with great difficulty, as his jaw was held fairly tightly by Psylocke's telekinetic powers.

   "Orders," Malice said shortly. "Magneto said we weren't to let you lot out of our sight, and we don't intend on it. Plus—," She took a long cynical glance at Kitty, "You need _somebody who can look out for themselves in a fight."_

   Kitty took an unconscious step forward, and opened her moth to retaliate, but Gambit grabbed her arm and held her back.

   "I know she's a c_hienne_ but your powers ain't much of a defence 'gainst lightenin'." He whispered harshly under his breath. She angrily pulled her arm out of his grip, but didn't take another step forward. Malice, who had seen all of this, raised a slender eyebrow at her, and smirked.

   "So, I'll go with you in the Blackbird Logan, and Malice shall accompany the other group in the Velocity. Tell them to open the hatch to let her in, and I'll let you go." Psylocke ordered.

   Logan growled again, but said out loud, "Rogue, open up your door, you have another passenger."

   The door of the helicopter swung open, to reveal Angel, who looked slightly pissed off. Malice nodded at Psylocke and walked over to the Velocity. Psylocke smiled.

   "Thankyou and we should be going on our way," Psylocke waved a hand in Logan's direction, and he suddenly became much less tense. He retracted his claws and rubbed his fists, looking like a dog that was licking his wounds.

   Psylocke walked swiftly past Gambit and Kitty and into the Blackbird. Gambit and Kitty reluctantly following, and Logan storming in last.

***

   Trask slapped the two file folders down on the desk. Both were well labelled: PRYDE, Katherine Joanne, and GREY, Jean Elizabeth. There was also a full colour photo of both affixed to the cover, as well as several profile shots inside the folder. Scott took the one entitled GREY, Jean, while Emily took the other one.

   "These are the two escapees. Jean Grey, and Katherine "Kitty" Pryde. Both were former members of the Xmen, and both had highly useful Abilities."

   "Telekinesis and Telepathy for Jean, and Corporal Intangibility for Kitty." Scott clarified.

   Trask nodded. "Katherine was about to be enlisted into the Assassin Project, as a stealth worker. And Jean, although she would have been a great asset, did not fit the requirements of the entire operation, so she was going to be eradicated. They were both in the waiting room, a room we stick them in so that we can prepare to ship them, when they escaped."

   "How did they escape?" Emily asked, looking at the Health Records of Kitty.

   "Through an unlocked window. The room was supposed to have been checked before they were placed in it, so that there wasn't any possible means of escape, but some of our security personnel were a bit lax that day."

   Scott nodded, taking his eyes off a full shot of Jean, who was standing against a height chart, showing her as being 5 foot 8.  "Those personnel have been dealt with accordingly, but we still haven't found any clue as to where they are now." Trask explained, sitting down dejectedly in his seat.

   "We believe we have found at least one of the escapees." Emily continued, flipping through the file on Kitty Pryde. "Katherine Pryde was seen at the recent terrorist attacks on Senator McPherson. She killed three Police officers injured 7 and wasn't hit at all by any of the bullets that were shot at her. I suppose that is because of her ability to become intangible?"

   Trask nodded, "She can walk through anything, and let anything go through her."

   "Do you have any other information on them?" Scott asked, finally closing the folder, and placing it on top of the other closed folder of Kitty.

   "We don't personally, but our Florida Base might. I believe there is a subject who knew the two people in question before they were taken into our custody. He might give you further insight into your case."

   "Could we have his details?"

   Trask nodded and walked over to a filing cabinet that was in the corner of the room.

   "His name is Piotr Rasputin. He knew both of the people in question. He was also part of Magneto's Acolytes, who fought occasionally with the XMen, and have a good insight into the way that they work both individually and as a team. He is scheduled to begin Project assassin in a few days, so I suggest you go see him before then."

   "We shall." Emily said standing up. "In the meantime, could you provide us with the transport to get us there? We are in quite a hurry, and booking a plane flight would be a time consuming matter."

   Trask didn't say anything for a few seconds, then walked back over to the filing cabinet and took out another file. This one labelled 'FERGUSON, Clarice'

   "She should be able to take you to your destination." He said, handing the file to Emily. "She can teleport, and is graduated member of Project Assassin like you. I'll send for her."

   Scott nodded and waited patiently while Trask made a phone call. He hung up the phone and almost immediately a blond haired medium sized woman appeared before them.

   "Blink, you are to teleport Scott and Emily to our Daytona complex, and you are to come straight back." Trask commanded. 

   Blink nodded and put a hand on both of their shoulders. All of a sudden, they were no longer in Trask's office, but in the lobby of a new building. Blink left as soon as she came in, and they were left to find Piotr.

***

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this, except Emily, Senator McPherson and Chase (But I don't like him)

A/N: Yeah… I am SO sorry for the delay in updating, but my nice new shiny beta, **ZenZen**, took a while in returning the finished product to me. So in penance for this awful crime… here are some shout outs!!

Rogue151 – Yeah, Rogue is a bit sneaky. But it wasn't really all her. Magneto knew what was going to happen when he let her touch him… so the responsibility flows both ways.

Little Took – aww!! You missed work for me?! I fel honoured… but don't get yourself fired or anything…. that would be bad. And wow?! my plot magnetic? You do mean that it's repulsive right?! cos that would make sense.

ishandahalf – Yeah… plotting galore!! And I'm sorry about my very late update. My bunny couldn't find any crack. The price just keeps going up these days…*shifty eyes*

Caliente – Yeah, Everyone feel sorry for Scott, the poor bastard. And Magneto is a bit of a bastard.

LewsThereinInsanity – Yes… the paperclips are safely locked in my paperclip jar… don't worry…

DoWriter12 – Yeah!! 100!! Hope I get to 150 soon… another milestone!?!

ZenZen – You'll get comments at school… you don't need em here

DemonRogue13 – I made someone cry? awww… I actually cried when I killed him. A lone tear fell down my cheek, and I was very sentimental and edgy the rest of the day.

bloody_lady – Yep, well here is my update. My next chapter is going to be much sooner. And that's a promise.

nessie6 – Yeah, I did know Pyro died in the original comics. I just like fiddling with him as a character because he and I have one very big thing in common. We're Australians. Go the little Kangaroo men from down under!! Yeah!! And about Roberto… I think I fully forgot about him in this fic. Unless I mentioned him somewhere in the earlier chapters. I'll have to go check…

Yep, well there is your shoutouts… Hope they all work for you. And I PROMISE I'll have the next chapter out by… Sunday… is that good enough for you? It's written on paper (sorta)

Yeah, well I have some assignments to go do now, so Buhbye my friends!!


	15. Chapter 15

**_When the stars threw down their spears_**__

**_And water'd heaven with their tears:_**__

**_Did he smile his work to see?_**__

**_Did he who made the lamb make thee?_**__

**_- William Blake "Tyger Tyger"_**

**_***_**

   "We're almost there," Logan said to the people on the plane, who were all partaking in various activities, to get their mind off the uneventful flight. "Buckle up guys. I'm gonna park this baby on the roof of an abandoned warehouse."

   Everyone scrambled back to their respective seats and clipped themselves in. Only two people had remained seated in the flight, and that was Logan (who had to, or else the plane would crash), and Psylocke (who didn't seem to be interested in socialising with the rest of the group).

   As soon as everyone was buckled in, Logan began to lower the plane onto the building. They landed with a soft bump, jolting a few members onboard the aircraft.

   As soon as they were landed, everyone unbuckled; Logan pressing a few buttons on the aircraft to hide it. Kitty sunk through the floor so she was standing directly underneath the Blackbird. She then looked up, and all she could see was the darkening sky. It was Dusk. About 6 o'clock. 

   She waited patiently for the other people to emerge from the aircraft, and then watched as Logan locked up the aircraft. It looked slightly strange to see a man automatically locking thin air, but Kitty knew it was there. It was a precaution, in case their hologram was compromised and someone happened to see the Blackbird sitting there.

   She heard Gambit ask: "Where is the Velocity parked?" Logan replied quickly that it was a few blocks away, and that their target was a building in between them.

   The only problem was getting to the building. They could get to the ground and travel on foot, but that would be much more time consuming than travelling along the roof-tops. It would also be far too conspicuous for what they needed, and that was to keep their cover until the precise moment.

   "Kitty, could you dive across?" Gambit turned to ask her. The gap between the two buildings was about 10 feet across. Kitty looked at the gap, but under her gaze, the 10 feet suddenly morphed into 50 and she couldn't see herself making the jump.

   She shook her head and answered, "It's just a little bit too far."

   "What if I tossed you?" Logan asked gruffly. Kitty decided that they really were desperate if they were really considering tossing her. And even if she did make it across the gap, how would the others make it across.

   She shook her head again, and turned to look at the other members of the group, and then she turned to Psylocke. "Hey Psylocke, you could lift us over right? If you could hold the Blackbird to the ground, you could at least help us over the gap." In the fading darkness, she saw Psylocke smirk a little.

   "I was wondering when you'd notice I was still here."

   Logan growled softly, out of agitation. "Can you get us there or not?"

   Psylocke turned to face the red-faced Canadian, and said in a sing-song voice: "Say the magic word!"

   Logan growled again, and Psylocke laughed. "Close enough for me!" Suddenly, everyone began to lift off the ground, only about a foot, and they drifted slowly over the gap. Psylocke gently lowered them once they were over the other building.

   "Now, was that so hard?"

   Logan didn't reply, but Psylocke smiled cheerfully at him anyway. She then began to walk to the other side of the building, where she waited on the edge for the rest of the members to catch up.

   Kitty followed almost immediately, then Gambit, and lastly Wolverine, who was still grumbling.

   It didn't take long to get into within sight of the building. It looked like a normal set of Apartment blocks, a little run down, but normal none the less. 

   Logan had gotten over his mood swing, and was back in his normal combat mode. "Now we get into position and wait until Rogue gives us her signal. Radio contact will be impossible after the blast, so Jean and Psylocke will be linking the team psychically. Are you ok with that?" He asked Psylocke directly.

   She nodded, and placed two fingers at her temple. Kitty immediately felt a shadow of something brush her mind, and suddenly she could talk to everyone.

   _Jean? Psylocke? Is the link secure? Logan asked softly._

   Both replied that it was, and the subject was left at that.

   "Kitty, can you take a few people to the ground? Multiple, Iceman, and me. The rest Psylocke can help onto the roof of the building and they can work their way in from the top.

   Kitty nodded, "Everone grab on, and be prepared for some nausea!" Hands gripped shoulders and hands and she began to sink through the floor, pulling the people with them.

~~~

   "Piotr is this way." The Doctor directed them down a sterile white hallway. "You got here just in time, he was about to be placed in the program. He's been on the waiting list for some time now."

   "We were told he worked for Magneto, we think he might have some information we need." Emily lied to the Doctor, who didn't know any better, and unlocked a door to his right. He opened it to reveal a very tall, dark haired man, standing in the corner, wearing a very plain grey jumpsuit and an unreadable expression in his eyes. Scott walked into the room, followed by Emily. The pressure he usually felt from his eyes abated, and he had to resist the sub-conscious urge to take off his glasses.

   "You'll have five minutes, and then one of our staff members will come and get you." The Doctor said before leaving and locking the door behind him.

   "You are Piotr Rasputin right?" Scott asked, moving closer to the Russian. Who replied in a very soft voice:

   "Da,"

   He pulled the files of Kitty and Jean out of his jacket, and handed them to Piotr. "We know that you know these two individuals. What can you tell us about them?"

   Piotr took the files, and flipped through them silently. He then closed them and handed them back to Scott.

   "How many times did you face these two in battle?" Emily asked.

   "You mean, how many times I faced you in battle," Piotr said calmly with a thick Russian accent, staring at Scott. "I faced you in battle, and you were on their team. Or don't you remember?"

   Scott didn't react; he just placed the files back in the fold of his jacket and looked up at Piotr indifferently. "What did you learn about facing these two in battle?"

   "I learned to watch out for other members of their team. They are a team, as well as individuals." Piotr smiled softly, "They may not be a tough adversary by themselves. But as a team, they are almost invincible. You of all people should know that Cyclops."

   "Well, then, what are their weaknesses?" Emily pressed on.

   "Their weaknesses are few and far between." Piotr said in his very calm Russian voice.

   Scott began to ask another question when the lights when out suddenly and he felt the pressure behind his eyes build once again.

~~~

   _Ok, move in now. Watch your back; we don't want to have to take home any bodies. Wolverine instructed through the psychic rapport the group all shared._

   Shadowcat and Iceman ran towards the side entrance, while Wolverine ran to the front door, where he met up with Toad. Multiple had quickly become 7 people, and they had moved around to the back of the building. Shadowcat and Iceman ran quickly and as stealthily as possible and as soon as they were about 10 feet from the door, a gust of something like wind blew over them, and the entire area, including the building was plunged into darkness.

   Shadowcat paused for a few minutes, in slight shock that it had happened so quickly. Somehow she had thought that the Pulse would be a lot louder, and would take a lot longer than it had. Iceman had hesitated slightly as well, but had still kept running and reached the door first. 

   It was locked, and he was about to freeze the lock so that he could smash the metal and open the door, but Kitty just walked causally through the door. He shook his head sadly when he saw her hand reach through offering to pull him through. He decided it would be the better stealth thing to do, and grabbed it tightly. He felt a yank, and the next thing he knew he had landed rather ungracefully on the floor beside her.

   There was no one in the corridor that they he had landed in, and even though it was pitch black, they could tell that there was a lot of commotion in the building. Footsteps echoed from the roof, as though many people were running around madly, and there was a lot of shouting coming through the door at the end of the corridor.

   _Shadowcat and Iceman are to go down to the lowest levels of the complex and see what is there. If there is anything dangerous, get out of there quick. Rogue's voice told them as soon as Iceman got to his feet again. She had begun to bark other orders at other people but both Iceman and Shadowcat tuned him out. _

   "Ready to ride the Shadowcat express?" She whispered to Iceman, who grabbed her hand and nodded, and then they both sunk through the floor.

~~~

   Meanwhile, Jean received a little message of her own. _Jean, Psylocke, get us access to the building. It's not safe for us all to be inside the building._

   Jean, who was hovering directly above the conflict, scanning the minds of the people in the building. She knew already that they were assembling the graduated mutants of the Project Assassin program, and she also knew that there were at least 50 of them.

   Psylocke had made her way over to where Jean was hovering.

   "What do you say we take the roof off this place?" She said with a playful glint in her eye.

   Jean looked down at the roof of the building with apprehension. Her powers weren't back to full power yet, and even if they were she wouldn't have been able to do that. She looked back up at Psylocke who grinned.

   "Jean honey, if I can do it, you can do it. You're a stronger telekinetic than I am. We work together, it'll be easy." She smiled and with a wave of her hand she swept away all of the air-conditioning units that were sticking out of the roof.

   "I dunno," Jean said quietly. "What would we do with the roof when we've finished?"

   "Oh, we'll dump it in the sea somewhere. No one will know the difference." Psylocke waved the excuse off, and placed a comforting hand on the red-head's shoulder. "Come on, if you never test yourself, you won't go anywhere."

   Jean nodded and began to concentrate. Psylocke did the same thing, and simultaneously, they began to pull up on the roof.

   She heard it begin to creak and saw the cracks begin to appear in the solid concrete. Jean would have marvelled at the combined strength of her and Psylocke's telekinetic powers if what they were doing didn't require so much attention.

   Suddenly, she felt the bond between the roof and the building break and with a jerk the roof flew upwards, revealing the maze-like walls and desks that littered the top floor of the building. The people who were in that level, all screamed and panicked and rushed towards the stairway, which was partially blocked.

   As soon as the roof slab was at least fifty feet above the rest of the buildings, they both gave it a collective shove in the direction of the sea, which was only a few miles away, but because of the force of their push, and the velocity of the concrete slab, it managed to make it well over the coast and into deep water, where it fell with a resounding crash, and caused quite a large shockwave.

   _Great work guys. Wanna help us get in now? Gambit's voice echoed through her head, and Jean looked down to see Gambit waiting on the roof of a neighbouring building. She began to lift him off the building and into the now roof-less building, but when he was two feet off the ground a huge red beam of energy shot out through the building, and barely missed her by a few meters._

   She lost her concentration on Gambit, and he fell, but luckily he was still over the building and didn't fall to his likely death.

   It was only then that she realised that she recognised those beams and almost fell out of the air.

~~~

   Scott closed his eyes, grabbed his visor out of his pocket and placed them on his face. Now that there was a hole in the roof that let in light, they knew what was going on. Emily stood beside him, looking up through the hole.

   Piotr was sprawled ungracefully on the floor with three new bullet wounds in his head.

   As soon as the negators had worn off, the Russian had tried to morph into the Colossus form he held, but Emily had been too quick for the man and had gotten three well placed shots into him. He had fallen dead to the floor straight away.

   Scott had decided after about a minute that they didn't need the roof, and had told Emily to cover her head. Once she had done that, he had taken off his glasses, and the roof had received the raw power of his energy blasts.

   "Lift me up there," Emily said to Scott, moving to be directly underneath the hole. Scott held his hands out as a step, and Emily took the invitation. She stepped up and with a bit of a jump she reached the ceiling, and hoisted herself up to the next floor easily.

   She dropped a chair down to Scott who used it to get up to her level.

   They were standing in an office. Probably belonging to someone of importance in the organisation, as most of the things in the room looked expensive.

   "Someone is attacking the facility." Emily informed him as she walked to the side of the room, and looked out a window. "I can see one of our targets outside. Jean Grey is above the building, with another purple haired woman."

   "Can you get a shot?" Scott asked.

   She looked out the window, and checked her chances. "I could get a shot in, but not 100% sure it'd hit."

   Scott moved over to the window, to see if he could get a shot in, when an explosion rang from above him.

~~~

   It had taken a lot of convincing on Gambit's part to make sure that Jean didn't go into the building by herself. As soon as she had seen the optic plasma blasts, she had almost flown straight down the hole, but because of Gambit's quick thinking, and Psylocke's very fast reaction rate, she had been held in spot temporarily.

   In the end, they decided that Jean and Malice were to try and locate Scott, and see if they could take him back to the X-Jet.

  So Malice had sent a particularly strong lightening bolt into the hole created by the beam, and then floated down the hole. Jean felt Psylocke's hold on her release and she shot straight down the hole after the white haired weather-witch.

   He looked exactly the same as she remembered. His semi-hidden face still looking as smooth as leather; his hair neatly brushed in exactly the same way; his posture, tall and astute, even his dress sense was the same, the red t-shirt and dark brown pants with the oh-so sensible shoes. 

   The only thing that had changed was his aura. He didn't let off an aura of kindness, and willingness to do what was right; in fact she could hardly detect him there.

   She stood staring for a few seconds until he put his hand to his visor and let off a blast.

***

Disclaimer: [Insert standard disclaimer here]

Actually, I've noticed that I tend to be a bit biased when I'm writing the action scenes; does anyone want to see someone get some action? (Ooh… that could be twisted SO badly…*slaps hand* bad GELD… get your mind out of the gutter…) No seriously. If anyone wants to see particular characters get a good little cameo. (Providing they aren't dead) I'll see if I can accommodate that.

And people, I think I'll have the next chapter out next Sunday, But I'm right in the middle of my exam block, then in three weeks, I'll be free for two whole months!! TWO!! You have no idea how great that sounds to me :) So bear with me if the update isn't up by then. I do have a life you know. 

Peaking of a life, I just got a livejournal!! Go Me!! GO check there for updates, www.livejournal.com/users/ittykat . Easy done.

Cool guys!! So cya round, and don't forget to review, they make me feel good, and make me update quicker!!


	16. Chapter 16

   Shadowcat and Iceman reached the bottom of the complex without any major trouble. A few guards had been frozen in place before they reached the lowest level.

   They dropped into a pitch-dark hallway. She and Iceman both pulled their tiny little pen-lights out of their uniform and flashed them over the room.

   Doorways lined the walls on both sides of the hall. All of the doors were identical, except for the small name plaques that were situated under a small window.

  Shadowcat concentrated her light on the closest door. It said: "BISHOP, Lucas." For a minute, Shadowcat considered going to open the door, so that she could set the poor guy that was inside that room out, when she remembered that that was why they were here. To make sure that these mutants didn't ever escape, or to see if it were possible to return them to their original state.

   She looked at Iceman, who was trying to see through the little window on the door opposite 'Lucas Bishop's'. His head pressed against the plexi-glass, with the small pen-light directed through it. 

   "See anything?" She asked softly. He turned to look at her, and then gestured for her to look through. She did, while he held the penlight in place, and she saw someone she hadn't seen in years. Pietro Maximoff. He was sitting on a makeshift army style camp bed, eyes wide open, staring back at them.

   She gasped faintly, but she remembered what Magneto has said about his son. That he was barely himself anymore. Only a soldier.

   Iceman looked sadly at the ground, and then directed his light back down the hallway.

   "How many do you think are down here?" He asked quietly.

   "Looks like there are about 50 cells, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a communal holding area. To keep the newest members in." Shadowcat answered. "The negator is turned off remember,"

   "We'll stick together. To make sure nothing happens."

   "Let's start with this one here." Shadowcat nodded towards 'Lucas Bishops' Cell. "If he attacks, freeze him instantly."

   Iceman nodded, and watched as Shadowcat phased them through the door. Lucas was crouched in the foetal position on his cot, hugging his pillow and rocking ever so slightly. With his dark complexion, he was hardly visible in the dark, and when Shadowcat shined her pen light on him, he glanced up fearfully at her. Looking remarkable like a deer in the headlights.

   "Wh… wh… who... are you?" He stuttered, looking at her, then his eyes darted away to look at Bobby.

   "My name is Kitty Pryde. And this is my friend Bobby." She said in a calming voice. "What's your name?"

   His eyes shot towards the door and then back to her. He then said, barely audibly: "I'm not supposed to say it."

   "Well you can tell us. We won't hurt you." Iceman said kindly

   His eyes darted from them to the door. "How did you get in?"

   "I'm a mutant. I can walk through walls." Kitty explained calmly. She moved over to the door and pressed her arm through it. "See?"

   "What can you do?" He asked Bobby. Kitty smiled at the fact that wasn't as jittery after learning that she was a mutant.

   "I can make ice." Bobby explained.

   "My name is Bishop."

   "That's a lovely name Bishop," Kitty said calmly. "Do you have any family?"

   He nodded, "I have a sister."

   "Do you want to get out of this place? Because we can get you out and we can help you find your sister." Bobby offered.

   Bishop's eyes darted to the door. He then said in an extremely quite voice: "Please… Don't let them come back."

   "Ok," Bobby held his hand out to him, and he eventually accepted it. Kitty then placed her hand on Bishop's shoulder and walked through the door with him.

~~~

   Jean reacted surprisingly quickly, blocking the red blasts with ease. Soon Malice landed beside her and had instantly sent a huge lightening bolt at the brown-haired girl standing next to Scott. 

   She was blasted backwards and through the wall, and lay unmoving in the rubble. Scott didn't hesitate, and shot another blast at the two, this time, almost hitting Malice, before Jean deflected it quickly.

   "Scott!" Jean said pleadingly, "It's me! Jean!"

   He didn't answer her with words, but another blast. So Jean lifted Cyclops up into the air, and held his arms out into the air, with enough force that he was held still, and immobile.

   "Listen to me," She commanded to him. He didn't say a word, just stared back at her, through the visor.

   While she held him there she heard Malice take a few steps closer to her, and it wasn't until she felt a firm hand around her throat that she realised that Malice was right next to her.

   "Let him down Mutant." She heard Storm's calm emotionless voice echo in her ear.

   She turned around to look at her. "Malice? What are you doing?"

   "Let. Him. Down. Mutant." She repeated, calmly, her grip on his neck tightening, beginning to cut off her air supply.

   Jean concentrated on Malice's mutant signal, expecting it to be straight before her, but she couldn't sense her anywhere. It was as though she had disappeared.

   _Psylocke?!__ Gambit?! Kitty?! Someone get down here! I need help! She shouted out telepathically as the hand on her neck tightened to a point where she began to feel light-headed and spots began to appear in her vision._

   She saw the pile of rubble where the brown-haired girl had been slammed into start to move, as she stood up and shook the dust out of her hair. She then walked past the still hovering Cyclops to stand about a foot away from Jean. She raised hand and pointed a finger between Jean's eyes.

   "I have the ability to eject organic metal from any part of my body. Right now I'm aiming at your head. Let him down." She said quietly in the same emotionless voice that Storm had been using.

   With the pressure mounting in her chest from the lack of air, and the finger that was pressing on the gap between her eyes, she felt like she was about to snap, when a small explosion hit the floor that Storm was standing on, causing her to lose her balance, and let go of Jean's neck.

   Jean stumbled backwards, clutching at her neck, when she saw the brown-haired girl's finger twitch and a small bullet emerge from the fingertip, but a soft purple light stopped it in mid air and it fell to the ground.

   She turned around, and as her vision cleared she saw Psylocke and Gambit standing there. Gambit leaning casually on his Bo staff and Psylocke with one of her hands held out.

   "Don't let Scott go Jean." Psylocke warned her.

   She turned around to look at Scott, who had managed to move his hand so that it was a few inches from the button on his visor. In a second, she had snapped his arms back into their spread-eagle position, and he was immobile again.

   But Emily and Malice – no Storm – were still fully able to continue the attack. As Jean was still in a semi-state of shock and had now fallen to the ground, but had still managed to hold Scott immobile, hanging in the air, and Psylocke went on the defensive against the two hostile Mutants.

   Emily and Storm attacked in perfect unison, Storm providing a thick hazy fog, while Emily shot continuous silent bullets from all of her extremities.

   Though to counter that, both Psylocke and Gambit were extremely talented fighters, and both adapted well to fighting with each other. Gambit was an excellent offensive fighter; Psylocke was a brilliant defensive fighter; and both were extremely skilled at hand to hand combat, though their styles varied 

   Psylocke was a very disciplined fighter. She was trained in several forms of martial arts, and combined them all effortlessly, to become extremely deadly. That and her telepathic abilities made her a much more formidable force that she looked.

   While Gambit was much more into the street fighting side of things. He wasn't afraid to fight dirty. He was also extremely flexible, and his gymnastics skills were Olympic level. He could do amazing things with his Bo staff, and his speed and accuracy were astonishing.

   Together as a team they were almost perfect.

   They attacked in unison. Psylocke blocking them from any lightening bolts or bullets that happened in their direction, and Gambit, with his ultra sensitive eyes began to attack the closest person – Storm.

   Another blast, this time carefully aimed to blow at the side of her head, shook the floor, and Storm was knocked to the side. However she stood straight back up, and shot a fast and particularly strong gust of wind in Gambit's direction. He began to lose his footing, before Psylocke slammed up her psychic shield to protect him.

   Jean was still on her knees while this fight was going on. It seemed as though both the brown-haired girl and Storm had forgotten she was there, so, being as quite as she possible could, she crawled towards the brown-haired one, who was continually shooting bullets from her fingers, which were being blocked by Psylocke.

   Once she was within a few meters of the girl, she sent out a telepathic probe towards the girl. She was completely blank, except for a few set directions that were drilled into her brain. She was an emotionless shell. Jean closed her eyes, and trusted that Psylocke and Gambit wouldn't let her be harmed so that she could drift further than the surface of the girl – Emily's mind. The name had drifted through the blank dark space she now stood in. Normally whenever she managed to venture this far into the subconscious, memories, feelings and random thoughts would be swarming her. But there was just a void. There wasn't even any colour.

   She took a few steps towards the set directions. In a mind everything is connected to something, memories and thoughts and mannerisms are all connected in some way or another, so it wasn't surprising to be bombarded with horrific images of torture and abuse as she got closer to the directions.

   She found herself being pulled into one particularly strong memory. She was standing in a perfectly white room. She watched Emily, who was sitting, curled up in the corner, rocking backwards and forwards next to the sharp metal framed bed that was the only piece of furniture in the room. The girl was muttering something, so Jean took a step towards the cowering girl, so that she could hear what was being said.

 "Our father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name; thy Kingdome come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen" She was praying. Before she could take another step towards the poor girl, the door behind her opened to reveal a man in his 50s. He took several long strides across the room until he was right next to Emily.

   "Silly wench." He kicked her in the side, causing her to crouch up more "What are you praying for?! Mutant-scum like you have no right to pray. Stop it" His words were accented with kicks and punches at the small girl, who didn't even attempt to retaliate. However she did stop reciting her prayer.

   The memory started to fade out, but Jean happened to see a small tear streak down her face before everything became too fuzzy to interpret.

   She continued walking through the memories before she reached the core of this memory block. She scanned the area quickly, seeing if she could block this mantra that was floating around the girls head.

   Once she felt confident she began to delete the memories with her mind. On by one, the disturbing images were deleted from the area. And it wasn't long before the area was fully blank.

   She was about to search for the memories she had had before the treatment. Ones of her family, and friends. But it was as though they didn't exist. She was about to send out a large probe when she felt someone trying to wake her body. She started to leave slowly, when Psylocke's purple aura shot into the mindspace and wrenched her hard out of there.

   All of a sudden she felt herself thrown against the floor, and she skidded back from where she was sitting. Miraciously Scott was still immobile, and Storm seemed to have been knocked unconscious. However Emily, she looked the worst. She was suffocating. She was choking on her own tongue. Gambit was trying to get her to breathe, by performing the Heimlich. But it didn't seem to be working.

   "What's wrong?!" She asked Psylocke, who looked quite pissed off, and also somewhat confused.

   "What did you do to her?" Psylocke asked her softly. Despite Psylocke's soft tones Jean was taken aback. She had done this?

   "I blocked some of her memories. I thought that if I blocked her torture that she would go back to normal again." She explained feebly.

   Psylocke nodded. "I think when you did that, you deleted her unconscious actions. Like breathing. She's forgotten how to do it."

   Jean felt like she had the wind knocked out of her. She started to frantically scramble towards the girl Remy held in his arms. She was now fully unconscious. But Psylocke stopped her. "You can't go back into her mind now. If she dies while you are in there. You'll be trapped forever."

   "I can't just leave her like that! It's my fault!" Jean yelled at her. Trying in vain to get past the purple-haired ninja.

   "You have to. Otherwise you'll be no more use to us than a manikin." Psylocke kept a hard grip on the girl's arms. "Why do you think I pulled you out? You were about to die."

   Jean struggled some more, before the aura of Emily flickered out in her head. She watched Remy check the girl's pulse before he gently laid her down on the ground.

   Scott, who had previously been ignored by the three in the room made himself known. "You'll pay for killing her." He said loudly and threateningly to Jean.

   Jean's heart lurched at hearing such cold words come from such a familiar and comforting face.

   "It was an accident." She whispered.

   "You still killed her. I'll get you for that." Scott said evenly before Psylocke sharply hit him on the back of the neck, causing his head to flop forward as he was knocked unconscious.

   Psylocke lifted Storm off the ground, so she hovered a few centimetres from the floor. Then she turned to the other two "I'll take them back to the Blackbird and lock them up. Gambit, I think that Rogue may need your help with the security."

   _Hey guys, Bobby and I are going to need some serious backup down here. Kitty's slightly troubled voice came through the mental link._

   "Jean go down to help." Psylocke instructed. Jean looked like she wanted to do differently, but Psylocke gave her a harsh look, and she forgot her quarrel, and nodded. She then stood up and floated down the hole that Cyclops had made in the floor.

*** 

   Kitty and Bobby weren't having such an easy time with every prisoner, as they had had with Lucas Bishop. So far they had managed to save three prisoners apart from Bishop.

   Jean-Paul Baubier and his sister Jeannie-Marie had only recently been placed in the program, and apart from being a little physically worn out, and Jean-Paul had a broken arm, but they were not mentally affected very much. They both proved useful in recovering other prisoners as both were gifted with super speed, super strength, invulnerability and the ability to fly.

   The other prisoner was a girl of only about 16 named Dani Moonstar. She was visibly shaken, like Lucas Bishop, but understood that they weren't there to hurt her.

   It was some of the other prisoners that were the troublemakers. A mutant by the name of Robert Delgado, seemed to be a long way through the treatment, because as soon as Kitty phased herself and Bobby through his door, they were rewarded with a huge fiery spit ball aimed at their faces. Luckily Bobby's reaction rate was quick, and he managed to freeze the ball in midair before Kitty backed out of the room.

   He wasn't the only one who rebelled though. And it didn't take those mutants long to figure out that they could use their powers whenever they felt like it.

   The result was serious chaos in the hallway. It was then that Kitty sent out her distress message. Almost instantly, Kurt and Logan were at her side. The immediately realised her problem, so Kurt set out teleporting the safe mutants to one of the transport vehicles, and Logan set about making sure that the truly dangerous mutants would stay docile, in a way that only he could.

   Jeanne-Marie and Dani were taken with Kurt along with a girl with the ability to control metal called Lorna Dane to the blackbird. Kitty tried to convince Jean-Paul to go with them, but he refused. Insisting that he would help them in their fight, despite the fact that his arm was causing him serious pain. 

   So, once they made sure that those mutants were out of harms way, Kitty and Bobby began to go back on the offensive. Iceman began by freezing Pietro, who had somehow escaped from his cell, in place. While Shadowcat set about trying to get some of the other mutants out of the area.

   A girl was lying on the ground, in the middle of a fight between Logan and another, much larger male, who looked like he could stop a six car train in its tracks. She was close to being trampled, and if Shadowcat had taken any longer to reach the girl, she probably would have been.

   She heard the familiar 'BAMF' noise and begun to smell the acrid smell of sulphur and she knew instantly that Kurt was back from dropping off those other mutants.

   She pulled the girl out of the way – with some difficulty because the girl seemed to be intent on staying in one place. She yelled at the girl that she had to move, or else she would get squished by the huge mutant who almost stepped on the girl's leg. Kurt teleported next to her, and with his help, they wrenched her out of harms way just in time. She was shaking horribly, and looked as if she was going into shock, when the whole building began to shake eerily. Doors popped out of their frames, releasing many more mutants and the girl's eyes went from a normal brown to a creepy green colour as the building shook even more. Kitty realised that the girl was the one causing all of the shocks. She tried to calm the girl down, but she seemed to be having an epileptic fit. Her body was twitching at such a rate that Kitty felt an urge to take a few steps back, but she didn't.

   Suddenly, when Kitty heard a huge crashing noise come from above them, and when she thought the building was about to fall in on them, the girl went limp in her arms. She was unconscious. She turned around to see (a slightly distraught) Jean removing her hand from her head. 

   "What was wrong with her?" Kitty asked 

   "She was in shock; she's fine to be taken up to the Blackbird." Jean explained, while telekinetically blocking a blast of water from one of the mutants who was out of control. Jean didn't look very well, but Kurt nodded grabbed the girl and teleported out.

***

   Gambit made his way swiftly to the part of the building that was designated to Rogue, Jamie and Lance who were to deal with any security problems, and see if they could find any information that would further their cause more.

   Gambit didn't think that Psylocke was right when she had told him that they needed help, but then she was psychic and he wasn't. And she was the one with the constant mental link with everybody in the group. 

   Gambit pushed those thoughts to the back of his head, and swiftly ran through the corridors when the building started to shake. He stopped as the floor underneath him was shaking too hard for him to run safely. He balanced barely on the wobbly ground, and even used the wall (which didn't look as through it could stand too much pressure from the shaking.) as a brace so that he didn't fall.

   It was then that he noticed the plaster cracking. Starting from the floor, cracks appeared in the wall that he was leaning on, and he immediately stopped putting extra pressure on it.

   _Hey Lance homme, lighten up on de shakes.  He thought nervously directly to Lance._

  
   He replied shortly that it wasn't him, and he was trying to control it as best he could, as the building wasn't holding up very well under the strain.

   Gambit stopped observing the cracking wall when he noticed a huge creaking sound coming from the floor underneath him. He instinctively ran as quickly as he could down the corridor. Just as he made it to the end where there was a door, the floor collapsed underneath him.

***

 Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I sure give them a beating sometimes!! :P

A/N: Ich!! People are REALLY gonna hate me for that. *is scared* but it all leads to stuff that will be important!!

*hides* please don't kill me…

but anyway, before people start running with torch an pitch-forks, I'll do my little shoutouts.

Rogue151 – I know you requested a Rogue one, and I had planned the last scene (of this chapter) to have her in it, but when I was writing it, *point upwards* that happened. But trust me on this one: I PROMISE she will be in the next chapter.

ishandahalf – Hmm… well… the unbrainwashing didn't come this chapter… well not for Scott anyway, and it didn't look like Emily fared too well with Jean's little attempt. Well we'll have to see what happens.

UnknownSource – Sorry about killing your favourite character. In fact, I didn't like killing Pyro. He is one of my favourite characters. I actually cried when I wrote the scene where he died. It was sad. It made me wanna rethink my whole story. But still,  Emily was my own character and she was only made to die in the first place – That sounds sorta sadistic doesn't it.

FaDiNgSiLvErStAr – Yeah, sometimes I update fast, sometimes I update slow. Depends on my workload.

RandomReader – Yeah, Piotr didn't really get to do much, and he still died. I seem to like killing acolytes… or at least hurt them… *cries* I didn't want to I swear!  *goes off to cry in corner about unfairness of muses*

GS335 – So, Jean didn't really do much kicking of ass in this chapter as you wanted her too, but she did get air-time. And I suppose she did get to immobilise Scott so he couldn't do anything, does that satisfy you? Hmm. But she an Scott WILL get some boning time… one of my promises.

Suzaka – The poem at the top of last chapter was called Tyger Tyger by William Blake. He is a very famous poet. I first found the poem when my friend borrowed 'Origin' from the local library. That's the comic that tells the story of Logan's Past. Its very good. But basically there is a girl in it, who reads the poem and says it reminds her of Logan. It was a very touching moment. actually

ZenZen – Did you like the cameo I gave you? And the little Kurt bits? Cos you asked form them, you got em. And I dunno when the next chapter will be out, but have fun in China girl! I wanna see pressies when you get back :P

bloody_lady – Yeah, I will finish it eventually. I don't have many more chapters to go.

Well.. That's it. Go review!!


	17. Chapter 17

   Kitty was beginning to notice that the situation in the hallway was beginning to turn against the X-men. Jubilee, Psylocke and Angel had taken up permanent positions in the blackbird and velocity, as a number of prisoners that they had freed were either injured or a danger to themselves. But still, after shifting out at least 20 mutants, including the mutant Northstar who had assisted the group for a little while, before his broken arm had become too painful. There were still at least twenty mutants still in the hallway that were out for their blood. It also seemed that Kitty's prediction of the presence of a communal holding area was true, as more were storming that section of the building.

   The building itself, wasn't holding up very well under the stress that was being put on it. Kitty new that one of the levels had collapsed. Or at least part of one anyway. And without the roof (Jean had told her about its removal) the building was open to far more damage than usual. It was extremely unstable, and each of the X-men was conscious of this. 

   So, through the mental link that was help up by Jean and Psylocke, the remaining members of the team who were in the building made a crude plan to get out from the building, so that when it collapsed, they wouldn't be in the rubble.  They also made plans to knock out all of the dangerous mutants so that when the building did collapse they would be buried underneath it.

   Kitty and Kurt, being the two who could move the easiest through the building, were in charge of getting out any mutants who were either harmless to them, or part of the team. Kitty would drag one or two up through the building, and Kurt would take them from there to either of the transportation they had.

   Wolverine, Toad and Iceman were given the task of fighting the obviously dangerous mutants. Bobby was up against a girl around the same age as him

   Jean was to supervise the process of knocking the rogue mutants out. Then when the time came, the most able mutants would make the building collapse in on it self.

   They began to put their rudimentary plan into action, Kitty grabbing mutants that were given the OK by Jean, and pulled them up through the building to the ground level where she let them go to Kurt who was waiting patiently outside the building. Kitty handed them over before instantly diving back into the building to get more mutants. The next time round she manages to find about 4 more. She made them all link hands with each other in a strong monkey grip before she repeated the same process with them. Kurt was already waiting for her again, and yet again she dived back into the building.

   The main problem with this process was that after a while Kitty would get tired. She had already been phasing a lot that night and she knew that she wouldn't last forever doing what she was doing.

   Nevertheless, she still dived into the building a third time, so that she could get more. She couldn't let other people go through the same thing she had.

***

   Remy struggled against the falling debris as the floor collapsed beneath him. He stretched his arms out in a desperate attempt to find a solid handhold, but it was all in vain. He hit the ground floor with a thud that thankfully knocked him out.

   When he came to, all he could think about was the amount of extreme pain he was in. He had gotten into a lot of scrapes around his home town of New Orleans, with all the raggedy little brats in the neighbourhood, but all of the scraped knees and occasionally a broken toe didn't amount to the amount of pain his left leg was in. It felt as though someone had bashed it with a mallet until the bone in the leg was more like ice chips, then had soaked in it kerosene and lit it on fire before deciding to stomp on it a few more times. Plus he had a headache the size of a cow.

   The pain almost caused him to faint, but something that his Tante had told him in her lessons when he was a boy, forced him to stay awake: "never let anyone wit' a concussion go t' sleep. Dey migh' never wake up." The headache he had seemed too bad even to be a migraine. He'd had those before, and this didn't feel like that.

   He closed his eyes and tried to squint away the pain. It worked for a bit, and as soon as he felt up to it, he tried to sit up, so that he could see the damage done to his leg.

   His first attempt at sitting was too quick. He tried to jerk upwards and that just aggravated the headache by causing a weird form of vertigo, making him extremely dizzy and nauseous.  He winced and lay back down. His next attempt, this time sitting up slowly, worked. And he saw the damage done to his leg.

   A heavy chunk of wood that looked as though it had once been a wall or a support beam was situated on top of his ankle, and a big concrete slap was resting on top of that wood. Though it was not directly on top of his foot, the pressure it was forcing down was enough to cause the leg, or what was left of it to throb incessantly.

   He swallowed back the bile that had risen in his throat. Instead he called out for help.

   _Jean. I'm gonna need some help here. He said softly through the link he felt growing weaker every second._

   Jean answered quickly. _What happened?_

_  I got caught 'tween de roof an' de floor when de building shook last time. My foot aint looking to good._

There was a pause before Jean answered back. _Ok then, Rogue and her lot are the closest to you. They'll be with you in about a minute._

Gambit sighed in relief at Jean's explanation, then decided he should lay back down, as the pressure of sitting up straight for even a short amount of time was pressing heavily on his spine. He slowly lay back down on the ground, and though it was uncomfortable in that bits of wood and chunks of concrete were jabbing into him, his headache abated slightly and there was no pressure on his back.

   He closed his eyes and waited patiently for his promised help to arrive, and they did, though Gambit couldn't tell if they were within the promised time limit or not. Though as hard as he tried not to, he passed from the pain out at some point.

   He woke up to Jamie standing over him. The teenager yelled out "I've found him!" and suddenly Gambit became aware of other people in the area. Many more Jamies flocked to the spot, as well as Avalanche and Rogue. The Jamies were all pulled into a singular being, while Rogue and Avalanche examined the plank trapping his foot.

   Gambit distinctly heard Rogue say under her breath: "What have you done to yourself now Cajun?"

   He felt the sudden urge to reply to her offhanded comment with a witty remark of his own. But when he tried to speak only a funny gurgling noise came out.

   "It's ok Gambit. We're going to move the piece of wood out of the way and then we'll get you back to the blackbird where we'll put your leg in a brace." Jamie explained. 

   "Lance, can you help me move this out of the way?" Rogue asked lance, as they began to clear the area. But at that point Gambit blacked out again.

   Rogue was feeling horrible. None of this would have happened to any of them, if she had taken more time in making a more solid plan, instead of making a hasty decision that endangered all of the members of her team. Magneto had been right. He had told her. She had even absorbed him, but still she hadn't listened to his advice and learnt from his experiences.

   And now because of her decision, Gambit was in a critical condition, without any medical help in the near future, which it was obvious that he would need, very soon. The rest of her team were also in dangerous positions. Kitty and Kurt were overworking themselves. And Jean wasn't back to her full strength yet but still she was forced to continuously knock mutants unconscious. Something Rogue knew wasn't an easy thing to have on your conscious. Especially knowing what was going to happen to them once they were unconscious.

   Rogue held back her self-criticism for the moment. Now she had to try and fix the situation so that it didn't get any worse than it already was.

   "Jamie, go find Kurt, get him to 'port some of your multiples to both of the aircrafts so that there is more manpower there to help. Then see if you can get him to bring a medical stretcher back here. We need to get him immobilised. He might have some spinal injuries after a fall like he had. And his foot is going to need urgent surgery, so call back and tell Chase that he's going to need to be ready for that as soon as we get back." Rogue ordered the teenager who nodded shortly and ran off in the right direction.

   Lance was still moving the bigger rocks out of the way of Gambit, so that they could reach the plank easily enough to release the pressure quickly. Rogue knew that if you released the pressure off the injury of a crush victim, that it could cause more damage than wanted, and that the victim could possibly lose their limb or fall into crush shock, which was a dangerous condition that sometimes led to kidney failure.

   So, Rogue constructed a crude plan, based on the first aid techniques that she knew. She would wait until the last possible moment to move Gambit, and then make sure they got home in the quickest time possible so that Chase could begin surgery straight away.

   So in the time that they had, Rogue and Lance set about finding the best way to remove the plank without the danger of them dropping it, either on themselves or back on Gambit. Eventually, after tossing a few ideas around, it was decided that Rogue, using one of her borrowed powers would lift the plank off Gambit, and Lance, Jamie and his multiples would lift him onto the waiting stretcher Rogue would teleport the stretcher and Gambit into the Blackbird, which had the most room and was also equipped with basic first aid materials.

But they had to wait until Jamie returned.

***

   Multiple ran as fast as he could towards the place that Jean told him he could find Kurt. He dodged through doorways that had become misshapen; over tables that had somehow become lodged in his pathway. At that point in time he wished that he had Kitty's power, but still he kept running as quickly as he could.

   Finally the exit came into view and he made the last final sprint towards the doorway, where the door had come off its hinges and was now laying on the ground. He stopped at the doorway panting and looked both left and right for any sign of Kurt. Finally after a few seconds he heard the familiar "Bamf' noise that accompanied Kurt when he teleported and he ran wildly in that direction.

   He skidded to a halt in front of the blue mutant. He looked worn out, but when Kitty appeared in the wall a determined look graced his features as he shouldered a mutant that Kitty handed him. He turned to look at him expectantly.

   "What do you need Multiple?" He asked in a hurried voice, his eyes betrayed the exhaustion he was hiding.

   "We need a stretcher for Gambit. When that tremor hit the building the floor collapsed underneath him, and he got his foot trapped under a big support beam. We need to get him out of there." Multiple explained hurriedly. "Rogue also sent me to help with the supervising of the rescued mutants. Apparently we have a shortage that I'm supposed to fill." 

   He quickly concentrated and several more Jamies appeared quickly. 

   Kurt nodded. "Grab hold of me guys," He said to the several Jamies who had appeared. Then to the original Jamie he said: "Wait here and I'll get the stretcher back quickly. Kitty can help you get it to Gambit, and then she has to go down and get the last few out of there. We're almost done."

   Jamie nodded and Kurt teleported away. Kitty phased the rest of her body through the wall, and then leant back on it, closing her eyes, obviously catching her breath.

   "We're almost done. Then we'll go home." Jamie said in a comforting voice. He hadn't talked to her much since she had come back. And even before the whole incident at the mansion, they had only had a few real conversations.

   Kitty murmured her agreement, but kept her eyes closed. 

   "What's it like down there?" Jamie asked curiously. "Logan wouldn't let me go own there with him. He said I had to help Rogue."

   Kitty opened one eye and looked at him inquisitively, but answered the question. "Chaos. Basically I go down, grab whoever looks the sanest and get back up here. From what I see, Logan, Toad, Bobby and Jean have their work cut out for them. But Logan made the right decision keeping you out of there."

   Jamie flushed and said angrily "You were doing worse than that when you were my age."

   Kitty didn't seem fazed by his anger, but replied. "That's not what I meant. Your power isn't suited for inside combat. You're an army by yourself, but you don't have any attack or defence mutations. You would get killed down there."

   Jamie was taken aback. He thought that Logan had told him to go with Rogue because he wasn't ready for what would be in the basement.

   "See, for me, inside and outside don't matter. It's the same for Kurt. Toad probably isn't that great inside, but he can use that spit of his and his tongue to do most of the inside work."

   Jamie was saved answering when Kurt returned with the foldable stretcher. And as though someone had just injected her with a shot of adrenalin, Kitty was alive again. Jamie grabbed the stretcher off Kurt, and then Kitty grabbed his hand.

   "You lead the way. I don't know where we're going. We won't hit anything." Jamie nodded at her instructions, and ran through the door he had come through.

   At the first obstacle, he bit his lip and waited for the impact, but it didn't come, just as Kitty had promised, he ran through it. He didn't even notice that he was intangible.

   Before he knew it, they were back with Rogue and Lance who were moving bricks out of the way.

   He turned around to look at Kitty, who was still holding his hand. He gave her a warm smile and a soft 'Thanks' then watched as she dropped through the floor.

   He then started to assemble the stretcher. He pulled the poles together to make the frame then attached the canvas and straps. In no time, it was all set up.

   He placed it directly next to Gambit, so that when the moved him, they would only need to move him sideways and straight onto the stretcher.

Then, they waited for Jean's ok.

***

   "How many left Logan?" Jean shouted out through the hallway to Wolverine. He growled menacingly at his opponent, who was trying as hard as he could to immobilise him. With one final swipe of his fist, hitting the guys face knocking him back into the wall. He looked over to where Bobby and Toad were fighting their own respective battles.

   "Probably about five." he shouted back.

   "Get them into the one area and I'll do the rest. Then we can get out. Gambit needs serious medical attention, and the Blackbird and velocity are packed.

   Logan nodded and relayed the message to Bobby and Toad.

   In no time at all, somehow the three of them had rounded the remaining few into her corridor, and with a quick psychic blast they all fell on the ground.

   Almost instantly, Kurt teleported in, where they all grabbed onto him, and he teleported straight back out.

   _We're all out of there now. Get Gambit out. Jean sent a quick message to Rogue and her crew._

***

   Lance and Rogue had finally finished moving the debris out of the way, when Jean sent them the message. Instantly Jamie multiplied himself so that 6 more Jamies appeared then they all moved to either side of Gambit. Lance took up a position at Gambit's foot, so he could make sure that the foot was not knocked or moved any more than it had to be, even though it was still being held in place by his thick leather boots. Then the original Jamie moved over to support the head.

   Rogue moved over to the plank, and gripped the end that was sitting on Gambit's foot. "I'll lift the plank on three, you move him on four. Ok?"

   Everyone else agreed quickly, so Rogue began the count. "One… Two…" Everyone prepared to lift Gambit. One 'Three' Rogue lifted the plank quickly and held it as high as she could, and continued counting. Each of the Jamies and Lance lifted Gambit to the stretched on 'four' and soon enough he was on the stretcher.

   The movement woke Gambit with a start, and he tried to sit up, but the original Jamie held him down. "Gambit, we're about to take you to the blackbird. Just stay put."

   Gambit relaxed back onto the stretcher, and the other six Jamies lifted the stretcher. Lance and the original Multiple supervised Rogue as she put the beam back down on the ground.

   Soon enough, Rogue walked over and grabbed onto the stretcher. "Psylocke says that Kurt is too tired to do another trip, so I'll have to take us." Lance and Jamie nodded and grabbed onto the stretcher.

   The next thing they knew was that they were outside the blackbird, which had already been uncloaked. All off the Jamies escorted the stretcher up the ramp, with Lance following shortly behind. Rogue ran up the ramp quickly and grabbed Psylocke, who was helping a girl of about 16 into a seat.

   Psylocke waited until the girl was sitting, and was calm in her seat before she went with Rogue. And soon, she was standing outside the building, next to Jean, who was waiting expectantly.

   "So, you just want us to collapse it? Shouldn't we make it look like an accident?" Psylocke asked sceptically.

   "That's not a bad idea." Rogue said calmly. "You make sure the building collapses. I'll make an earthquake."

   Jean and Psylocke nodded, and soon the ground began to rumble under their feet, as Rogue's eyes rolled into the back of her head. The building started to rock from side to side dangerously, before cracks appeared in the walls, which Psylocke and Jean immediately took advantage of, widening them so that instead of being only a few feet long, they grew to be huge gaps in the solid brick walls. Suddenly, with one last rumble of the ground, the asphalt in front of the building split, leaving a huge crater in the middle of the road, that led straight to the building. As soon as the crack reached the building, the building finally gave in, and the walls began to fall down.

   That was when Jean and Psylocke began to rip down the walls with their minds. The main wet wall went down with a huge crash that shook the surrounding buildings dangerously. Jean and Psylocke gave the lower foundations a huge mental push, and soon they collapsed in on themselves. Within a few seconds, the area was filled with dust, and they knew that all that remained where the building used to stand was a pile of rubble.

   Quickly, Rogue grabbed the two girls next to her, and teleported back to the Velocity, where they took off instantly, and headed home.

***

Disclaimer: I don't own them. All of the mutants in this story are not claimed as mine. Even the ones I made. I think they are stupid characters, all evil. Even Chase, who has purposely been ignored for a few chapters. (*grins evilly*)

 A/N: Hmm, and so ends the big raid scene. Join in next chapter for much chaos and evilness!!

I apologise for the tardiness with this chapter, I really have no excuse because I am now on my summer holiday, and enjoying it to the fullest! 8 whole weeks of doing nothing! (Well now it's actually more like 6, but who cares?) I've been working more at my part time jobs so that my savings can actually become that: Savings. And I've been seeing a few movies with friends… Am seeing Scary Movie 3 with a friend tomorrow… hmm… but, I bet If I get 150 reviews, I'll get the next chapter out sooner *wink* *hint hint* that's only 10 reviews people! An even more than that will do even more for my ego and make it all good, and the next chapter might even be out sooner!

And just to be nice! SHOUTOUTS!!

Rogue151: Well Rogue got some airplay this time! Didya notice? I did it just for you! Feel special and loved.

FaDiNgSiLvErStAr: The girl making the building shake was just a random mutant I made up with an ability similar to Lance's. She wasn't really based on anyone from the original comics. If I'd researched, I probably would have found someone with a suitable power I could have inserted in there, but I was slack.

Suzaka: Unflichingly? When I'm writing all this I'm definitely flinching! I always want to find a different way to get the same result, and not resort to using a miracle. But they all sound really stupid. And I have a good friend who usually gets really annoyed when I do something like give Gambit a shattered foot, and she makes me flinch when I'm listening to what she'll do to me when she sees me next… but thankyou for the compliment.

UnknownSource: Yeah, Jean will get much more time to demonstrate her Psychic abilities, don't you worry. And Jamie and Rogue!! See they got action! Did you like it? I liked using Jamie, though it got a bit confusing for me as a writer to say something like: "One of the Jamies jumped up and down, while another Jamie rolled on the floor playing dead" It's a bit weird, you sort of need to keep track of how many there are.

DoWriter12: Pietro is now a Dead assassin now. Sadly, but at least there is hope for others who were put through his treatment.

ishandahalf: I'm really sorry for doing that to Gambit. I hope you didn't get too twitchy about it. But he's gonna be alright. I promise you. He'll be all ok. And sorry the update was slow. I'm slack. So sue me.

bloody_lady: I'll see what I can do about Emma Frost. Maybe I can fit her in later.

Morgannia: Welcome to the crazy bandwagon. Yeah, Kitty is one of my favourite characters too. But I'm trying to steer away from any particular pairings. I'm not good at the romance side of things.

And finally, my currently international friend! Zen Zen! Thankyou for reviewing! I know how hard it was, and I hope that you get to read this one ok as well. And yes you are very much appreciated! And Malice IS evil isn't she. Crazy evil bitch. *grumbles*. Yeah, Emily's death = real disturbing, and Northstar didn't get a big part, but that's why it's called a Cameo!! :P

Yeah, So, That's all for now. Review! Remember 150 and I'll be very happy!


	18. Chapter 18

**_   There's a graveyard in northern _****_France_****_ where all the dead boys from D-Day are buried. The white crosses reach from one horizon to the other. I remember looking it over and thinking it was a forest of graves. But the rows were like this, dizzying, diagonal, perfectly straight, so after all it wasn't a forest but an orchard of graves. Nothing to do with nature, unless you count human nature._**

****

**_Barbara Kingsolver_****__**

***

   Senator McPherson had never been a big sleeper. He preferred to take the occasional power-nap so that he wouldn't miss any important events that could sometimes be neglected if he wasn't informed immediately of the situation. 

   That was the reason that he was awake at two o'clock in the morning, watching CNN in his home office, sipping a strong cup of black coffee.

   '… Early last night, the city of Miami was rocked by a freak earthquake that caused severe damage to much property and took the lives of at least 20 people…' The glib female news reporter said seriously into the camera. Images of downtown Miami flashed onto the screen where Firemen and Police were organising a rescue and evacuation of the area.

   '… The epicentre of the quake, which tipped the Rictor scale at 8.8, was just below an old apartment building that had been closed off due to building code violations for several months. However, it seems that many of the city's homeless community were taking advantage of the vacant building when the quake hit. Authorities are still searching the rubble of the building, but so far, not survivors have been found.'

   The scene changed to an edited interview with a miscellaneous fireman. His name Mike Anderson was displayed at the bottom of the screen. 'We're doing all we can for these people. We can only hope and pray that there are still some alive down there.'

   It flicked back to the horrific images of the destroyed area. '… This particular incident has brought to light how extreme the homelessness problem is in Miami. The Mayor has defended claims that he intentionally closed down six of the city's homeless shelters in the last three months due to budget issues.

   Again the screen flicked to an old balding man wearing a cheap imitation suit, standing in front of an old lectern with a painted background behind it. 'I never intentionally shut down a homeless shelter. In fact, for the last few months, we have been trying to establish more shelters, around more of the city so that hopefully the situation will improve. What happened today brought home the startling truth that this city is not a city of rich people, who are always successful, but that there are also many other people who are far less fortunate than most. Who need the help of the fortunate few. Because of this, a donation hotline has been established to help fund the rescue operation and to start to build stronger networks to help these unfortunate people back to their feet.'

   The glib news-reader returned to the screen. 'In related news, seismologists around the country are baffled at this sudden natural disaster. Many renowned experts in the field of earthquakes are baffled at the abruptness and the severity of the situation.' A small man with thick black rimmed glasses appeared on the screen with the came Phillip Perry.

   'The world's surface is always moving and what people don't usually know is that there are often many small, almost un-noticeable earthquakes everyday. But the earthquake is an anomaly. It is in the middle of a tectonic plate, where it is very unlikely that earthquakes or volcanic eruptions will occur in this area. They are far more likely to occur on the rim. And even if they do, they hardly ever occur to this magnitude. Another weird thing about the situation is that there were no aftershocks. Usually a quake of this magnitude would have at least a minor aftershock. But at the moment the rector scale isn't detecting any movement at all in the Florida region.'

   The screen flicked back to the news reader. 'Experts will be conducting a full enquiry into the event.'

   The senator glanced interestedly at the television screen. He picked up the coffee cup from his desk and brought it to his mouth so that he could take a long gulp of the bitter liquid. He leant back in his chair and watched the next article.

   'And just a week after the attempted assassination on Marie Denver, her spokesmen have issued a press statement that she will be released from hospital tomorrow. Last week at a rally in Boston, Miss Denver was shot in an attempted assassination attempt. She underwent surgery in a private hospital last week to remove a bullet from her right shoulder. Her statement declared that she would be holding a press conference in two days time.

   'Miss Denver is a strong supporter of the anti Mutant registration laws that are being pushed into the senate by…' The Senator angrily shut the TV off.

   Ever since the failed shooting a week ago, the Pro-Mutant movement had been steadily gaining support in sympathy of their fallen leader. They saw her as the newest Martin Luther King. Fighting for the rights of those who had none. Or in this case, fighting for the rights that they should keep.

   Well Senator McPherson was not happy with the steady slump in support that the bill had received. The bill needed to be passed, or else scum like this Marie Denver and her mutant friends would dominate society, and soon people like him would be out of jobs, and moneyless.

   He brooded a little more, before he was rudely interrupted by the phone ringing. He noticed vaguely for a few seconds that it was quite late (or early) for someone to be ringing him. But he put that thought aside and answered the phone.

   "Hello, this is Senator Mark McPherson."

   "It's Bol, Mark. We've had a bit of trouble."

   The Senator sat up immediately. "What do you mean Trask? I thought that you made sure that there was no trouble with this program."

   "We did sir." The voice on the other end of the phone said in a jittery voice. "But we didn't expect natural disasters to destroy our primary centre."

   The Senator kept his voice calm, and asked quietly "What happened?"

   "Our biggest centre in Miami was at the epicentre of the earthquake. It was levelled to the ground. We can't find any survivors."

   The Senator nodded. "What about Scott and Emily. They were there yesterday afternoon to see if they could find any information on the people who attacked my offices."

   "Well, we found Emily's body in the rubble. She was crushed to death by the building. We haven't found Scott's body though."

   The senator swore loudly and slammed his hand down on the table. "Scott was my best operative. I expect replacements Trask."

   "Yes sir, that will be organised," The man conceded, and then continued on. "But I think that the whole situation is quite suspicious."

   "What do you mean Boliver?" Mark picked up his coffee from the table and took a sip.

   "Well there are a few things. There is a lot less rubble than expected, it's like a whole chunk of the building is missing. And there are far less bodies that we had in there. So far we've only found seventeen, and there were at least one hundred people in the buildings. Of the ones that we've identified, all of them were capable of getting themselves out of the situation, but didn't."

   "What are you saying Trask?" The Senator asked, finally intrigued.

   "I think that this was a set up. Missing bodies. The continual attacks we've had on our various centres. Sure this time they were a bit more organised that in the past, but it has some very noticeable consistencies."

   "How do you explain the earthquake?"

   "Well I assume you've been watching the news. All of the experts think it's an abnormality. And you and I know what that means these days…" The man on the other end of the phone dragged off, obviously implying something to the Senator.

   "Mutants."

***

   It was about half an hour before the blackbird reached the hanger of Marie Denver's mansion. And just as he was told, Chase was waiting with a hospital bed so that he could get Gambit into the infirmary as quickly as possible. Gambit was carried out by a troupe of Jamies, while the rest of the X-men escorted rescued mutants out of the hanger.

   Kitty, despite being desperately exhausted, was assigned five female mutants to look after, and find beds in the mansion. All of which needed medical attention, which they probably wouldn't receive until Chase had finished, and all needed some serious counselling.

   But Kitty didn't complain. Just did as she was told, and she took the mutants up to her room, where she went through her closet to find clothes that would be suitable for each of the girls.

   The youngest was a girl of about 15, and the oldest was around 30. Thankfully they were all quite skinny like her, and not very tall, so they could all fit into her clothes. She didn't worry about shoes, but gave them socks that they could cover their feet with, as she was discovering the nights were getting colder as the days went by.

   While she was giving them clothes and showing them the shower, she began to learn a little more about each one. All of them had been discovered by the FOH when their powers manifested. Three of them remembered being taken to a holding area, like one she described to them before being taken to the facility they had just been liberated from.

   "I think that my powers were latent," Explained the 30 something mutant who's name was Louise. "I was having a night out with my boyfriend at a nightclub near our house. There was a heavy metal band playing, and their music was apparently really loud. My boyfriend he broke up with me, I was totally shocked and angry, because he said he'd cheated. Then the music just got louder and louder until everyone but me had fainted on the ground. The noise level had knocked them all out. But I was ok. I ran out of there, and the next day Police came by my house and asked me to come down to the station. That they wanted to ask me a few questions about what had happened the previous night, and the next thing I new, I was in a holding area."

   Each one of them had similar stories to Louise; a few days after they had manifested, they were contacted by the FOH, and manipulated into going with them. Then eventually taken to the centre.

   Kitty patiently listened to their stories, and comforted them as they cried, as painful memories popped up. And eventually made out beds for them on her floor, so that they could eventually sleep. They weren't fussed about the lack of proper bedding. One of them explained that after sleeping for a few weeks in a hell hole like the one they had been, sleeping on the floor, sharing a heavy soft blanket with someone else was perfectly normal, and even seemed comforting.

   Kitty herself sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair that was near her desk, as she gave up her bed to one of the girls who had what she suspected as a cracked collarbone. She would have to get Chase to have a look at it later.

   Eventually all of the girls fell asleep. She tried to stay awake, and watch over them, but she found herself drifting off, even though she was still in the uncomfortable chair. She quickly jerked herself awake, and sat back up straight again. She decided that if she was going to stay awake, she would have to get some caffeine into her system, so she decided to take a quick trip to the kitchen to grab some.

   So she quietly got up from the chair, and daintily stepped over the girls who were peacefully asleep on the floor, opened the door quietly and stepped out of the room. She walked quickly down the hallway to the elevator she knew would drop her off just down the hallway from the kitchen.

   Wearily she pressed the button for the ground floor, and then she leant up against the back of the elevator and closed her eyes. Soon she was on the ground floor, and the doors opened, letting in the bright lights of the hallway, that pierced through her closed eyes.

   She stood up straight again, and walked out into the hallway, and down towards the kitchen. She walked mindlessly towards the coffee maker, which was already switched on.

   Confused, she looked around the kitchen to see who else was in here, and saw Magneto sitting in a corner, reading a book and sipping from his cup. He looked up at her when she entered, and put his coffee cup down the table.

   "Good morning Miss Pryde." He said in something that resembled a cheerful voice. He looked back down and continued reading his book.

   She began to make her coffee. "What time is it?" She asked with a yawn.

   He looked at his watch. "About five past three. You got back at about nine o'clock."

   She nodded at him, as she got a mug out of the cupboard. "When did you wake up?"

   "Not long after you left. Your doctor wanted me to stay overnight for observation, but I have never been a fan of hospital environments, so I declined and slept in my quarters."

   "How did Gambit's surgery go?" Kitty asked, grabbing a teaspoon from the drawer and started putting sugar and instant coffee into the mug. Then she went over to the fridge, and took the carton of milk out of the door.

  Magneto flipped the page of his book, and answered, "Fine. He's resting in the infirmary. Your doctor placed three pins in the ankle. But he'll be on crutches for at least 3 months."

   Kitty looked out the window into the garden. Some lights were on, so it wasn't extremely dark. It was bleak and grey. Heavy grey clouds hung in the sky, but some of the moonlight shone through the overcast skies to make the grass glow eerily. 

   It wasn't hard for her to remember that just a few days ago she had stood out there next to Jean, looking at John's coffin. It was so bleak and grey that day, just as it was today. She didn't understand it. They had just made a great victory against their enemy. They had liberated at least 70 mutants from that hell hole. All of which seemed fine. A little shaken, and a bit bruised, but none the less, fine.

   But still she had this unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. That something wasn't right. 

   She shook it off, and picked up her coffee. Strong and full of sugar.

   "I'm back off to look after the girls now." She told Eric, then she began to walk out the door.

   "Wait Katherine." Eric said, putting his bookmark in the page and closing the book. "I'll come with you. Keep you company."

   Kitty quickly shook her head. "Oh no, it's ok really. You don't have to. It's quite cramped in there already, and it would just be uncomfortable, for both of us, and—"

   He put his hand up, and she stopped babbling. "It's ok Kitty. The book isn't really that interesting anyway."

   Kitty looked down at the ground, as though she had just been chided by her dad.

   Magneto laughed, "It isn't a punishment girl. I just want to keep you company. Even if you want to have a sleep, I'll keep watch. I imagine you're exhausted after Miami."

   Kitty shrugged and began to walk back towards the elevator. "That's what the coffee is for."

***

Disclaimer: They're not mine. And I never claimed they were.

A/N: Well. I broke the 150 mark! Which makes me happy! Yes it does! And I know I said I'd update quickly, but I didn't and I'm sorry. But I still updated. Consider it my New Year's present to you!

I've already started work on chapter 19. I'm on a bit of a roll. Now I haven't got work, or school, and my Movie-buff friend is on holidays for a while, I have time to burn. So hopefully I'll have the next chapter finished soon.

And Shoutouts!!

No Name: Thanks for the review. It's appreciated.

Rogue151: I didn't get much in about it this chapter, but next chapter they'll realise exactly how much room they have. Rogue sorta did run into the fight without thinking a lot about the consequences. She's gonna be thinking about them for a while now. And you're welcome for the Rogue bit.

Ishandahalf: Nice to see you started writing your own fic! And yeah. Gambit'll live. He's a tough cookie. I never planned on killing him. I feared the wrath of many if I did.

DoWriter12: I'll see if I can work in Magneto's reaction next chappie… Just for you

FaDiNgSiLvErStAr: My vacation is very fun thanks. I still have about a month left before I go back to school. But who's counting?

bluefuzzydude: Thanks for the pecans! They were nice. And OC's are pretty much only made to do a purpose. All mine have been to either fill a position that I couldn't find a canon character to use that I hadn't already killed, or to be killed in dramatic gory ways. But I'm not morbid… no!

DemonRogue13 – I'm glad you're enjoying it.

UnknownSource – Hmm… You've got some pretty good theories about all this. Either that means you're real smart. Or my plots are so seethrough that anyone can get them. I'm guessing the first cos you're the first to guess all that. And yes there were many  'psycho mutants' still inside when the building went kaput, so  you're right on track there. But for the rest. You'll have to wait till next chapter. And merry belated Christmas to you, and a late Happy New Year!

bloody_lady – It's not finished yet. But It's coming to an end.

Lonegrowlithe – I'm glad that you like my story. Hope that you liked this chapter too.

Rose – The reason why I added so many Comic characters is that I needed man-power, and I knew that if I tried to make up characters people would lose interest, so I use comic characters, and people get interested cos they do exactly what you said. "Ooh!! that one has a psylocke version in it. I wonder if she's any good?' I didn't really read the original comic though, so I had to do a fair bit of research to get all the characters.

Well there we go.  All shoutouts done, and I've already started the next chapter. it's all go for GELD

Well see ya next time!


	19. Chapter 19

**_Be the change you wish to see in the world_**

****

**_Ghandi_**

***

   Bobby stifled back a yawn as he sat down in one of the fluffy armchairs that were in the living room. Jubilee sat down on the arm of the chair and leant back into him. Others about the room were finding the best most comfortable places for them to sit, while Rogue and Logan stood at the front of the room.

   They were holding a quick group meeting in the living room while the rescued mutants were in the dining room, eating a buffet styled breakfast,. All of the x-men were there, except for Gambit who was still resting in the infirmary. Magneto and Psylocke had also been formally invited by Rogue, who had obviously become tolerant of their presence. 

   "Ok. We need to set up a roster for supervision, and get into place a plan for the mutants." Rogue explained at the start of the meeting. "There are some mutants who are mentally and emotionally have been affected by this ordeal more than others and they will need pretty much around the clock supervision. Others need medical attention, and some just want to contact their families."

   Everyone in the room murmured their agreements. Rogue continued. "So I'm going to assign jobs to each of the people in the room. Some of the jobs will be rostered and shared between groups of people. Some will be the sole responsibility of one or two people. Logan and I assigned these jobs so that you're abilities and talents will be of most use."

   Logan began talking now. "For example, we have two highly dangerous mutants locked in the danger room right now, until we can find a way to contain them. They need to be monitored continuously by someone who has the ability to stop them if they were to somehow get out of there."

   Rogue turned to Psylocke and Magneto, who were standing at the back of the room near the Piano. "I hope you don't mind, but you two are both included in the roster."

   "That's quite alright Rogue." Magneto said quietly back to her. "We're here to help."

   Rogue nodded. "Ok. Now we have eight general jobs that need doing. First we need to find places for people to sleep; this includes room assignments and possibly purchasing more beds and bedding. Jubilee, Kurt, Todd and Angel, you're doing that. That shouldn't take more than a day, so once you've done all that only two of you will need to stay on as dorm masters for both the girls and boys dorms." The four of them nodded and Angel said that he would do the purchasing of anything required.

   "Now I know that a few of the people have relatives that they want to talk to, possibly go home to, so Jamie, Jean and when Gambit is feeling better, will organise that. It may even include booking transportation to their hometowns which we'll charge to our corporate account. Jamie you'll be in charge of that, so he'll be the one organising it.

   "Thirdly, as Logan mentioned before, we have two mutants in the Danger Room right now. Magneto, Bobby and Logan are going to work out a timetable so that at least one of you is always watching them. Both of them are familiar faces, yet both are extremely dangerous, so do not hesitate to use any means necessary to contain them."

   Magneto intervened politely by rasing his hand. "I believe that I could create a device that would harness Scott's optic blasts, but not allow him to use them against anyone."

   Logan nodded. "Well can you do that as soon as possible? And see if you can do something about Ororo as well." Magneto said OK and Rogue continued on.

   "Fourthly. Kitty, Psylocke and I will look after patients who have not reacted well to our moving them out of the facility in Miami. Some are reacting violently, and some are not emotionally stable. We will be sleeping in a communal area with them, so could the people in charge of Room assignments please create two rooms with at least 8 beds in each?"

   Jubilee nodded and grabbed a pen from Bobby's pocket and wrote a little not on her palm.

   "Next, we're going to need to organise communal activities for everyone to do. Whether it is organising games of Basketball or classes. We need to make sure that all of those people gain back some structure in their lives, that's the best thing we can do. We'll talk to some of the people in there. If one of them knows Judo, see if we can get them to start teaching a class. Now a majority of these mutants in there didn't finish high school, so maybe we could set up a set of group tutoring sessions. Set up a roster of things that we can possibly do.  Lance, Warren, Jamie, Kitty, Psylocke and I will do that."

   "Psylocke, Kitty, Kurt and whoever is assigned to be the dorm masters will be our 'counsellors'." She did bunny ears on the last words. "You need to make yourself known to everyone here. Make them know that they can come and talk to you at any time if they need to. And that you're able to listen and talk about anything. It isn't an active job, just something that you'll need to be prepared for. And on that note, if anyone else here is approached by someone asking for advice or such, don't send them away to one of these people. Talk to them as well. We don't want to have the whole job burdened on a few. Remember there are 70 or so people we have to look after and only 15 people to help."

   "Seventh. We need to set up Housekeeping rules. In the past we've had a pretty basic routine, but now there are more, we need to have proper house rules that everyone knows about. Lance, Todd, Bobby and Logan will be organising that, and keep them simple, and nothing stupid."

   "Lastly is making sure that there is always someone in the Med Bay. Chase will be down there as often as possible, but I want Jean to be down there in the event that he has to leave for a while. Everyone knows that his bedroom is there, so he won't be far, but I think that the Med Bay is going to be busy for a few days, and he'll need help. Chase has organised a quick tutorial for you this afternoon so you'll be prepared enough to help him down there."

   Jean did the thumbs up sign from her seat next to Angel on the couch and then Rogue brought up the next matter.

   "Now before anyone begins their assigned tasks. We need to get a list of everyone's name ages and powers for reference. So we're going to hold a group meeting with everyone after breakfast. What I'll get them to do is go to the person who looked after them last night, and you'll write down all the details we need. Then I'll get someone to put it in the database when they have time." She picked up a stack of notebooks from a table in the corner of the room, and began to pass them out. "Write the details down in these, and to save the people in charge of contacting relatives some time, see if you can get any contact information. See if they want to go home or stay. Make it perfectly clear that whatever they decide we can accommodate. Everyone understand?"

   Everyone in the room nodded and Rogue continued. "I'm also going to be holding a press conference as Marie Denver tomorrow afternoon. So Logan and I won't be around to help with any problems. If you need anything answered ask us before then. That's all we need to cover so you can go and get breakfast."

   Everyone got out of their seats to go to the dining room where people were still milling around. There was still food left to eat, but the people in the room had obviously really eaten a lot. Kitty grabbed a bowl from the table and poured some into it. She covered it in milk and sugar and began to eat it hungrily.

   She was still tired from the day before. But the few hours sleep she had gotten when Magneto had come into help her had made her feel a little better. Even if she wasn't fully refreshed.

   When she finished her cereal, she poured herself a cup of coffee from the jug full at one end of the table and sipped it while Rogue began her little 'Meeting'.

   "… Everyone needs to tell your minder their age, full name…." Kitty's attention to Rogue drifted throughout the whole speech as she had practically heard the whole thing five minutes ago.

   When Rogue pointer her out, she raised her hand and waved at the five girls who turned and looked for her.

   Eventually Rogue finished her little update and the 5 girls headed her way.

   "OK, now write your Name age and mutation on the page, and any relative's contact numbers or addresses." She explained quickly to the 5 girls who crowded around her. She handed the notebook to the first girl who started writing her name 'Ada Alcon' down on the first page.

   By the time they had finished she had discovered that only one of the girls had a home that they could return to. She also chatted a bit to them, and directed Meggan, the girl with the suspected broken collarbone to go with a group of others who were going to go down together to the Med Bay.

   "Well. The rest of you can go and crash in the living room. I think they're going to put on a movie for you. Or you can go out and walk around the grounds for a bit. Just tell me what you're doing so I know where you are and it'll be fine."

   All four of the girls opted to watch the movie, so she walked them to the living room where she left them to find seats.

   She herself walked down to the Med Bay, where at least 15 people were milling around, including Meggan, who was sitting in one of the many chairs in the room.

   "Hi Meggan! Has Chase seen your shoulder yet?" She asked in a friendly tone, mindful of one of the jobs she was given as counsellor.

   The older girl shook her head. "No not yet. He gave me some Ibuprofen though. He said it'll ease the pain temporarily, and I won't get addicted to it like Morphine." 

   "Well I'm sure he'll see you soon." She said as she turned to go into the private annex off the main infirmary. Gambit was sitting up reading one of the notebooks that had been left on the table next to him. He looked up when she walked in.

   "Hey chere," He said cheerfully, putting the book down on top of the pile.

   "Hi. I just came down to see how you were after the surgery and to drop off this." She held her notebook up for him to see.

   "T'anks." He muttered, taking it from her and putting it on top of the other notebook.

   "How's the leg feeling?" Kitty asked anxiously.

   Gambit glanced down at the leg, which was protruding out the covers at the end of the bed, fully covered in plaster with little pink toes sticking out the end.

   "I dun tink I have a leg anymore. It's so doped up I can' even move de toes."

   "Rogue came down yet to tell you the jobs you've been assigned?"

   Gambit nodded and tilted his head to the pile next to him. "All dat. She's bringing down a laptop for me later. So I can start straight away. 'm pretty bored."

   "I know what you mean. I once broke my toe, and they wouldn't let me walk for three days. I almost went insane sitting on the couch watching re-runs of ER."

   Gambit smirked. "Well I'm going t' get out of here tomorrow. I know de good doc says I'm t' stay in bed and all dat crap, but I'll go insane. I'd rather be up teaching some of dose kids how t' cheat at poker."

   "Sounds like a plan." Kitty smiled, and looked at the clock at Gambit's bedside. 8:47. "I'd better get going. I've got activities to organise." 

   "See ya later Kitty Kat." He replied picking up one of the notebooks again and began to read. Kitty walked out of the room, waved a goodbye to Meggan and walked back towards the elevator.

***

   The senator had been watching his television for hours. Ever since the call that Trask had given him in the early hours in the morning, and the information he had gained from that same phone call. He had made sure that he knew everything that was happening with the Miami situation.

   It was about midday when Trask called back. He confirmed what they already knew. The attack was caused by mutants. They had solid proof.

   The senator slammed down the phone and smiled to himself. Wallowing in his discovery. This would definitely boost support for the bill. He savoured the moment for a few more minutes before he picked up the phone again.

   "Ahh, Mrs Samuels. Can you call the press and tell them that I am calling a press conference later this afternoon… Yes… Three O'clock sounds good enough. Thank you." He hung up the phone then for the first time in several hours, stood and walked out of his office towards his bedroom suite.

***

   Lance was the one who was supervising the refugees in the living room for the next few hours. He wasn't looking forward to being subjected to below average soapies and re-runs until dinner. But he had drawn the short straw out of the people who were available so he couldn't get out of it.

   He slumped back in the armchair in the corner, which had full view of the whole room, resigned to the torture he was about to endure, when the news update caught his attention.

   "In a shocking potentially risky press conference just earlier, Senator Mark McPherson, one of the strongest supporters of the mutant registration act, held a press conference just earlier where he made a shocking and potentially risky accusation towards the Mutant community, claiming that he had evidence to suggest that the tragic earthquake in Miami yesterday night was caused by a group of Mutant fanatics calling themselves the X-men.

   In a 15 minute presentation of evidence that he claimed he received from a reliable source showed that this group—" Lance stood up instantly and pointed at the closest person to him. It was Louise, the one of the older mutants in the group. "You. You're in charge until I get back." And with that he ran out the room and headed to the Danger Room, where he knew Logan would be.

   It took at least two minutes of full on sprinting. He didn't wait for the elevator, but bolted down the emergency staircase that no one ever used.

   When he got there he slammed the doors open. Magneto, Bobby and Logan were all there, pouring over a sheet of paper.

   Logan began to talk, ("Lance what—") but Lance didn't let him finish.

   "Turn on the TV." He panted, desperately trying to get his breath back. Bobby switched on the little monitor they had and the news flash was just finishing.

   Lance shook his head, and said "Check CNN." Bobby typed a command into the control panel which acted as a TV remote and the station changed to the non stop news station. 

   Sure enough, the a similar news report to the one that Lance had just seen was showing. "—This group of mutant radicals are highly dangerous, with abilities ranging from control of the earth's tectonic plates which one of their rancks displayed this morning in Miami, to Telepathy and I believe the ability to walk through walls. Combined, they have the ability to obtain every nation secret this country has, and I demand that they be brought to justice for their crimes."

   Lance nodded at the screen. "See?"

   Magneto nodded. "Yes Mr Alvers. Thank you for telling us."

   Lance took this as his cue to leave, but before he left the room, Logan said to him. "Don't make a big fuss over this Lance. And see if you can find Rogue. She should probably know about this before she goes to her press conference tomorrow" 

***

Disclaimer: I don't own them. They don't own me.

A/N: Well it's not terribly long. But it's not short either. I know I said to DoWriter12 that I would have some Magneto-angst, but I didn't think it fit with the feeling of this chapter so it's been postponed til next chapter. Which shouldn't be too long I don't think. But it all depends.

Anyways. Please Review as always. Lets see if I can get 168 reviews. 10 more than what I have now? That's fair enough?


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